Consultations
Business consultation 18th May 2015 – Hoofers Cafe, Somerford Park Farm
A consultation event consisting of a breakfast meeting was held from 8am so that local business people could attend and complete a questionnaire regarding the size, scale and nature of business within Somerford.
Thirteen businesses attended and enjoyed tea, coffee and bacon rolls whilst they filled out their questionnaire. The results of the questionnaire can be seen in the summary contained in the documents section of the website.
The findings were varied covering light industry, home working, equestrian pursuits, farming and plant hire among others.
Consultation Event 1 – 25th April 2015 at Blackfirs School
This was a meet and greet event held at Blackfirs School on Longdown Road. This was the first time that the steering group got the opportunity to meet the local residents and listen to their concerns.
Previously a preliminary questionnaire had been issued to every household in the area asking open questions of what residents liked, didn’t like and would like to keep amongst other questions.
Refreshments were served and the event was well attended. There was a display on what neighbourhood planning was all about. There was a map where attendees could add dots to a map to show where they lived. There was another display that was along the theme of Somerford Past, Somerford Present and Somerford Future. Somerford Past had a brief history of the area with a few photos. Somerford Present described the current assets that Somerford has plus photos and a display summarising the replies to the preliminary questionnaire. The final display of Somerford Future had a proposed draft vision and was an invite to residents to add ‘post its’ to put their comments on the area whether good or bad. This event plus the replies from the preliminary questionnaire helped the steering group move forward and to write a survey to find out if a wider audience agreed with proposals made at the event and in the preliminary questionnaire.
Afternoon Tea Event – Saturday 20th June 2015 at Davenport Chapel
Somerford Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group held their second event at Davenport Chapel. It was an Afternoon Tea event where visitors could examine the draft visions and objectives proposed.
A survey had been delivered to all residents in May and an overwhelming 50% plus returned their surveys. A random draw was made of all that were received and two prizes were awarded. The results of the survey were used to formulate the draft visions and objectives. These were presented at the event for residents to discuss and comment on.
At this event the steering group was very pleased to have Fiona Bruce the local MP drop in.
