Learning from the Neighbourhood Development Plan

Feock Parish Council's extensive engagement with the community over the past year, has helped shape and inform the community transport scheme.

The Neighbourhood Plan, now ongoing for eight months, has seen the parish work together towards an idea of the future that ensures the long-term sustainability of community in the parish and outlines the parishes position on future area developments.

It's an important document for the parish, and as such extensive research and outreach was conducted which called for the community to understand and input into the Plan. Including the public exhibitions, the parish council sent a survey to all 1,884 residents (incl commercial). Of these 575 were returned.

There was a section in the survey 'Getting Around' including buses and community transport. 95% of respondents thought that public was either adequate or better. THIS IS GREAT!!

But the survey identified some issues beyond restructuring bus timetables...

1. Obviously, the resulting cut to the Corlink service means that there is now a gap servicing trips for those with access and mobility difficulties. This means some people have difficulty making everyday trips to the shop, dentists and doctors.

2. Some of the bus and train timetables are not scheduled at time when children and young people could get to school.

Many other areas of consideration were raised through the Neighbourhood Plan, and this community transport scheme can't address every issue raised. Yet, what it can do is bridge some of the needs of the community through collective endevour.