Parish Survey Results

51 people thought that too many new houses were being built in Helsby and many of these respondents felt that such new homes would put a strain on existing local services such as health and education.  Over 40 respondents thought that traffic was causing an issue in Helsby, particularly when vehicles were diverted from the M56 through the village. 20 people mentioned speeding as a particular issue and several mentioned parking on pavements and the unauthorised use of cycles and scooters on pavements.  35 people were also frustrated about road closures in Helsby with many of these mentioning the inconvenience of the long-term closure of Old Chester Road.  32 respondents were generally unhappy about noise in the village, particularly motorway noise and piling noise from the new housing developments.  28 people thought that the village looked untidy and unkempt with overgrown hedges, weeds and litter and that some verges and footpaths were poorly maintained.  19 respondents thought that crime and anti-social behaviour was an issue in the village and some wanted to see an increased police presence.

“Road closures, overgrown hedges and weeds on paths, over development on infrastructure, too much through traffic, can’t join from side roads, poorly managed bin collections”

There were almost 500 answers to this question.  Two key themes stood out as being the most popular priorities:

• 92 respondents said they wished to see the completion of all the road repairs in the village and all closed roads to be re-opened (including Old Chester Road).  The parish council will continue to voice concern to Cheshire West and Chester Council that Old Chester Road has now been closed for over 5 years; and
• 69 respondents felt that local services and infrastructure should be expanded to cope with all the new houses being built in Helsby (e.g. doctors, schools).  The parish council will continue to push for investment, including developer contributions, to be spent locally to ensure that local residents can access doctor’s appointments more easily and send their children to schools in Helsby.  It is perhaps no surprise that 27 respondents would like to see no more house building at all in the village or better controls on future development.

The following priorities were also notable:

• 43 respondents mentioned traffic issues including speeding and illegal/obstructive parking.  The parish council will continue to report any issues to the local PSCO, particularly around local schools, and we have also been exploring the possibility of an average speed camera system in the village.  Several people also commented on reducing noise levels from the M56.
• 41 respondents felt that tackling crime and anti-social behaviour should be a priority.  We will continue to work with our local PCSO to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.  In 2022, we installed CCTV cameras and lights in the parish field to help combat any issues in this area.
• 40 respondents felt that there were too many weeds, litter and overgrown vegetation in Helsby.  We will continue to report any issues to Cheshire West and Chester Council and local landowners, where appropriate, for remediation.  Similarly, 13 respondents felt that local footpaths and pavements were in need of attention and a number of others wished to see Helsby Quarry tunnel footpath re-opened.  8 people suggested planting more wildflowers in the area.
• 19 people raised the importance of a strong community, with suggestions such as more facilities for young and older people and more village events.
• A number of people felt that sports facilities could be improved – 16 respondents felt that Helsby needed additional sports facilities such as a new sports hall/gym and 9 people specifically wanted a swimming pool.  The parish council were delighted to support the development of Helsby Community Sports Club and will continue to encourage the growth of any additional facilities in the future.
• 16 people thought public transport in the area should be improved or the services that were currently provided should be protected.  Several people also wished to see cycle links enhanced locally, although there were a number of negative comments in relation to the new cycleway between Helsby High School and Frodsham.

In terms of other priorities raised, some suggestions were outside of the council’s control such as better street lighting, household waste disposal and tackling issues with the gypsy and traveller community (within the remit of Cheshire West and Chester Council).  Others were for the business community to consider such as providing more local shops and restaurants. Appendix 1 contains some additional suggestions made in this response that the council could perhaps address within its next 5-year plan.  These will be discussed by the council over the coming months, mainly through its Environment and Parks, Cemetery and Allotments Committees, or if outside of the Council’s remit, referred to Cheshire West and Chester Council or other relevant organisations.

In this question, we presented a number of ideas for local projects that respondents might wish to support.  Whilst no particular project received universal support, the two most popular projects were: refurbishment of Helsby Community Centre (57%) and the provision of play equipment for wheelchair users (54%).  The parish council will work together with Cheshire West and Chester Council and Helsby Community Association to look into funding a number of potential refurbishment projects at the community centre, including the installation of more energy efficient LED lighting.  One respondent mentioned the poor state of the men’s toilet in particular.  The Parks, Cemetery and Allotments Committee will also explore different types of wheelchair friendly play equipment and make recommendations to Full Council in 2023.

There was also some support for three other projects: average speed cameras (40%), new village planters (43%) and a summer fete/carnival (48%).  The council has expressed an interest in an average speed camera pilot project being promoted by Cheshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner.  It is understood that we have not been shortlisted as one of the pilot areas initially but we will continue to work with the PCC and others as the project develops.  We also work closely with our local PCSO to monitor the general levels of speeding in the village and Cheshire Police have recently invested in a new handheld speed camera device for the local area.

You may have already noticed that the parish council have installed a number of new black planters both at Helsby Community Sports Club and outside the shops on Chester Road.  This was a pilot project implemented earlier in 2022 given that some of the green planters were reaching the end of their recommended shelf life.  We feel that the new planters do help to smarten up the village and fit better with other street furniture such as our new noticeboards and litter bins.   Two respondents suggested spray painting the old green ones rather than scrapping them altogether.  The Environment Committee will take any views expressed in the questionnaire on board when considering any further investment. We would also like to take an opportunity to thank our volunteers who kindly give us their time to look after each of the 21 individual planters around the village.

We are sure you will all agree that Ho Ho Helsby is a wonderful annual Christmas event in the village and seems to go from strength to strength every year.  Some of you may remember that Helsby used to have a summer carnival and suggestions have been made for more community events in the village.  The parish council will consider funding and organising a summer fete but as with any community event, we would need to rely on the goodwill of volunteers and local organisations to make it a success.  Please contact us if you would like to join a working group to consider making any plans for 2023 and beyond.

Two other projects received far less support.  Only 14% of respondents supported a landscaping project at Sherwood Court.  Sherwood Court is located behind Helsby Community Centre and contains the outdoor gym equipment, the table tennis table and a pavilion.  The parish council leases this area of land from Cheshire West and Chester Council.  In recent years, some of the paving and general landscaping in this area has deteriorated and would benefit from an overall tidy up.  It is acknowledged that some respondents may not have realised that this area was known as Sherwood Court and this could have impacted on the apparent low level of support for this project.   Nevertheless, the parish council will take any views expressed when planning the allocation of future resources for this area.

The final proposed project, a public arts statue, received only 5% of support from respondents.  Following the allocation of developer contribution funding to arts projects in Helsby as well as a grant from the Arts Council, the parish council worked with a number of creative specialists in 2022 on the first phase of the ‘Helsby the Art of Here’ project.  This involved working with several groups in the local community to develop a leaflet and a sound piece.  Funding is still available for a second phase of the project and several councillors thought that a statue to depict Helsby’s heritage might be the best way forward.  Given the apparent lack of support for a statue, it is clear that further community consultation is required about where monies may best be spent in this area.

We also asked respondents what other projects they would like to see.  Some of the answers closely aligned with the priorities set out in Question 4 and have therefore not been repeated here– i.e. re-opening Old Chester Road, provision of a gym and swimming pool in the village, improving play facilities, wildflower planting and tidying up the village in general.   A number of other ideas were suggested which are set out for consideration in Appendix 1.

The parish council would like to be as accessible and engaging as possible to everyone in the community.  We are aware that communication methods change over time, particularly as new technologies continue to evolve.  We display our agendas and information about the council on our noticeboard at Helsby Community Sports Club and we often produce a short article for inclusion in Helsby News.  We also have an up-to-date website which includes all our agenda and minutes and information about our councillors and important council documents.

The vast majority of respondents wanted us to communicate via Helsby News (82%).  Given this, it might be useful to include more detailed articles with parish council news in future editions.  Several respondents commented that distributing paper copies was costly and unsustainable and the newsletter should be distributed electronically.  We will discuss options with the editorial team.  Whilst the council doesn’t have its own Facebook page, we do include information on the Helsby Village Facebook page from time to time.  Given that 48% of respondents wanted us to communicate via Facebook, we may contribute more widely to the village page and perhaps consider creating our own page in the future.  41% said they wanted us to communicate via website.  One respondent felt that our current website was clunky and could be better so we will look at its current design and compare this with best practice (see www.helsbyparish.org.uk).  35% of respondents would like us to continue posting information on noticeboards.  The council has recently invested in three new boards around the village and we will ensure that both council and community information is posted there on a regular basis.

We also asked for any other suggestions in terms of how we might improve our communication. 9 people suggested that we could communicate via e-mail which we will explore further.  One person suggested we could hold a quarterly meeting to discuss local issues.  All Helsby Parish Council meetings and our committee meetings are open to the public and local issues are discussed at each one.  We hold around 30 meetings every year.  Agendas and meetings details are available on our website.

93 respondents answered this question.  Many responses related to issues already raised in previous answers but there were also a wide range of comments and ideas that the parish council will consider as set out in Appendix 1.  Several people raised issues about the parish council itself.  We were delighted to receive praise from some respondents: “I think Helsby owes the Parish Council and staff a debt of gratitude for keeping all the areas owned and managed by them looking fantastic and in great condition” but we also take on board a number of criticisms from others and will seek to remedy these: “I have attended a Parish Council meeting but was put off by the layout of the room. The Councillors had their back to me, so I was talking to the backs of their heads which I found disconcerting to the point of rude. You need a better room layout”; “The Council should maybe try to be friendlier in its approach and more transparent about projects and activities. Then it would attract more and younger councillors”.

Several people made reference to the new cycle route between Helsby High School and the Netherton Hall in Frodsham.  This is unsurprising given that the project was being developed at the time the questionnaire was circulated.  A number of respondents felt that the route was dangerous and a waste of public money.  We will feed these views back to Cheshire West and Chester Council.  There were also a number of comments made to say that the borough councillor was difficult to contact.  Again, we will report this back to CW&C.

There was generally a good cross section of ages completing the questionnaire as shown in the table below with the majority being in the 55-64 year age bracket (28%).  The aligns fairly closely with the age demographic in Helsby.