Rural Roadshows

• Somerset Roadshow conversations – Rurality JSNA 2014/15
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During summer 2014 at two Somerset County Council roadshows and a Compass Disability Event, people from rural areas were asked to identify three things that they liked about the countryside and three things they didn’t like. The number of responses from the three events are summarised below.

These responses were grouped into ‘themes’ where possible.  Where comments did not fit a particular theme, they have been grouped as ‘other’.  These were predominantly comments that related to someone’s individual circumstances, and therefore could not be generalised.

Positive Themes – all areas

Less traffic / quiet : Respondents used words such as ‘peace and quiet’ and ‘less traffic’

Community: Words such as ’friendly’ and ‘neighbours’ were used, in addition to ‘community’

Air quality: ‘Fresh air’ and ‘No pollution’ were the main words used

Lovely area / scenery: Words such as ‘Countryside’, ‘Beautiful scenery’, and ‘Views’ were used.

Activity easier: Most respondents referred to ease of walking, and access to areas to exercise.

Good facilities: 11 respondents were positive about the local amenities, with good schools and pubs most frequently mentioned.

Negative Themes – all areas

Combining the responses for all roadshows, the most popular three were ‘Planning / housing development’, ‘Poor bus service’, and ‘Access to services’.

Planning / housing development: This theme covered a range of comments including ‘too much housing’, the actual siting of housing developments, and the costs; ‘affordable housing’.

Poor bus service:  This included comments such as ‘lack of buses’, ‘bus service cuts’, and ‘poor bus services’.

Access to services:  In some cases this is related to the poor bus service theme.  Comments included ‘cost of having to travel’, ‘distance from amenities’, and ‘shopping difficult unless you have a vehicle’.

Road maintenance / hedge cutting: Respondents commented on the poor state of the roads, and ‘overgrown hedgerows’.

Few amenities: This theme covered comments such as ‘village shops closing’, ‘services not as good’, and ‘lack of amenities like shops and fuel’.

Top three themes by Roadshow