At our inaugural General Meeting on 12th September you told us it would be a good idea to conduct a survey of residents to find out what matters most to those of us living on Herdwick Gate and Herdwick Fold.

On 24th September we did just that.  We asked you to spare a few minutes to tell us your views.  We had a response rate of 34% which we think is pretty good for a survey of this nature.  Thank you to everyone who took part.

In the spirit of openness we are sharing these survey findings on our website so that residents and other interested parties can see what we all think.  Your views and your priorities are going to guide the committee as we undertake our work.

The survey data can be sliced a few ways.  We can analyse Herdwick Gate & Herdwick Fold separately as well as combined.  In this article we set out your key priorities and we also give a baseline report of how you rate a number of things related to our two developments.

Your Priorities

Priorities for Herdwick Gate are as follows:

#1 The proposed Hanson Farm development

#2 Landscaping issues in the Public Open Spaces (POS)

#3 Adoption of roads/pavements by Warwickshire County Council

Following these top three priorities residents also raised concerns about anti-social behaviour, condition of roads/pavements and surface water drainage.

If you are registered with Stratford District Council online you can see details of the Hanson Farm planning application via the planning portal.  The reference number is 24/00303/OUT.  Click here for details.

Priorities for Herdwick Fold are as follows:

#1 The condition of roads/pavements

#2 Adoption of roads/pavements by Warwickshire County Council

#3 Landscaping issues in the Public Open Spaces (POS)

Following these top three priorities residents also raised concerns about the condition of footpaths in POS, anti-social behaviour and surface water drainage.

These findings will be useful for the committee as we sit down with Taylor Wimpey to discuss next steps for our two developments.  It shows very clearly what matters to you the residents.

Baseline Ratings - How you Feel About Things

We asked you to rate a number of things from ‘Excellent’ to ‘Very Poor’.  The charts are colour coded so the more green you see the better the score and the more red you see the worse it is.

This is what you told us.

Ratings from Herdwick Gate are as follows:

Condition of roads

Condition of pavements

Maintenance of Public Open Spaces (POS)

Play area

Emptying bins on POS

Surface water drainage - your garden

Surface water drainage - POS

Quality of life on The Herdwicks

Quality of life in Shipston

Taylor Wimpey Customer Service

Ratings from Herdwick Fold are as follows:

Condition of roads

Condition of pavements

Maintenance of Public Open Spaces (POS)

Play area

Emptying bins on POS

Surface water drainage - your garden

Surface water drainage - POS

Quality of life on The Herdwicks

Quality of life in Shipston

Taylor Wimpey Customer Service

If we combine both developments it looks like this:

Condition of roads

Condition of pavements

Maintenance of Public Open Spaces (POS)

Play areas

Emptying bins on POS

Surface water drainage - your garden

Surface water drainage - POS

Quality of life on The Herdwicks

Quality of life in Shipston

Taylor Wimpey Customer Service

Overall Conclusions

You, the residents of Herdwick Gate and Herdwick Fold have provided a good steer on what your priorities are.  As your committee we will ensure that Taylor Wimpey sees this information and we will do our very best to encourage them to deliver timely solutions.

When we look at your baseline ratings there are some differences between Herdwick Gate and Herdwick Fold, but also many similarities.  

For example residents on HG are happier with roads and pavements than residents of HF.  And the HG ‘Quality of Life on the Herdwicks’ score is slightly higher - maybe that’s a reflection of the fact that with decent roads and pavements they are closer to getting the development finished and adopted by the council.

In the comments some of you mentioned that the surface water drainage in your gardens is only as good as it is because of remedial action taken by you after you bought your property.  Surface water drainage in our Public Open Spaces may not have made it in to your top three priorities however it's still up there as an issue.  We believe there is potential for significant water damage both in POS and within property boundaries at times of heavy rainfall.

Unsurprisingly many of these ratings are reflected in your priorities for action.  We hope that over time the amount of red on these charts will move to green as progress is made on resolving issues.

But in terms of the ‘Quality of Life in Shipston’, despite all the issues that need addressing both developments appear to confirm it’s a pretty good place to live.  And that is a positive note to end on.  

If you have any questions or observations on these survey findings please feel free to send us a message.

HGHF-RA Committee

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At the Residents Association General Meeting held on 12th September we asked if it was a good idea to conduct a survey of residents to find out what your priorities are for the new Committee.

Attendees said it was a good idea so that’s what we are doing.

Today we have emailed all residents who have shared their email address with us to invite them to take part in this survey.  It’s entirely voluntary but we hope that people will spare 5 minutes to take part.  

If you have shared your email address with us but have not received a survey invitation by email please contact us and we will try to sort things out.

If you have not already shared your email with us please contact us to share your details.

As we are only seeking the views of Herdwick Gate & Herdwick Fold residents we are not posting the survey link online.

HGHF-RA Committee

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Hello and Welcome to the Herdwick Gate & Herdwick Fold, Shipston-on-Stour Residents' Association website - or HGHF-RA for short.  We hope you like it.

The News tab in the top menu is where you will find the latest news concerning the Herdwick developments.  Plus we may bring you the occasional news story from Shipston and surrounding areas, where we think it's relevant. 

Here is where you can read about updates on things like roads, pavements, landscaping and other similar Public Open Space maintenance subjects.  Plus we will tell you about any on-site community events that are being organised.

If you have discovered something newsworthy please feel free to drop us a line and we can consider sharing it on this website.  Similarly, if you have any ideas for on-site community events please share your ideas with us.  Send your message here.

The image above is of a September 2024 sunrise near Brailes, with a floating veil of mist over the Stour valley, as seen from Herdwick Fold.  Thanks to photographer Chris Reed for the photo.

As we start our Association it seems appropriate to begin with a sunrise.  A new day always brings new hope.  And a new Residents  Association brings hope that we can come together as a community and make a positive difference.

Shipston-on-Stour is a wonderful place to live but as with any new development there are things that need sorting out.  Let's hope that just like the early morning mist over the Stour valley melts away with the rising sun, the issues that need to be resolved on our developments will begin to melt away as we work together to resolve them.

John Fedorowycz

Charman HGHF-RA

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General meeting 12th September 2024