Residents have their say on South Holland priorities

Description:

More than 1,000 residents of Spalding and South Holland have had their say on what the district council's priorities should be for the future, including issues relating to health, crime, education, economy, rubbish and recycling and access to services.

The consultation exercise by the Rural Action Zone (RAZ) executive was carried out in November and December and asked a variety of groups and individuals what issues were most important to them.

The council held discussion groups, asked people on their doorsteps, and invited young people, older people, gypsies and travellers, migrant workers, parish councils, businesses, people with disabilities, those in isolated rural communities and faith groups, to participate in an online survey or to complete a paper questionnaire.

Councillor Nick Worth, Chairman of the RAZ Executive, said: "We have been very pleased how the consultation has gone over the last two months.

"The response has been excellent and we have had very interesting feedback from the public.

"It was good to see so many different groups and individuals from across the district were able to contribute.

"The results will give us plenty to think about when we move into the next stage of writing the Action Plan with our partner organisations. Thank you again to everybody who took part in the consultation."

The report highlights that keeping South Holland's towns and villages clean and tidy is high on most groups' list of priorities, as is encouraging exercise and sport, reducing drug abuse, feeling safe in the community, encouraging more young people into education and training, recycling more waste and access to leisure, shops and doctors.

Other key priorities include:

• More police on the streets



• Affordable housing



• Attracting new businesses to the area



• People from different backgrounds getting along together

Rural Action Zone and its partner agencies will now take the findings of the survey into account when planning for the next few years.