The Survey, Delivery and Collection of Questionnaires

We are conducting this survey in order to understand your needs and views regarding the future of the Parish of Preston. The process for producing a neighbourhood plan requires that the body responsible for developing it has consulted widely and responded appropriately to those consultations. This survey satisfies part of that need for wide consultation. We will also be consulting businesses, educational establishments, other organisations and stakeholders.

A main focus of neighbourhood plans (not just ours) is housing and future development. Future development is a broad topic so our survey covers a wide range of subjects not just housing.

Some questions may not seem relevant to planning – but they may be affected by planning policies or need us to make provision in plans now to be able to do something later.

You don’t have to take part

Participating in the survey is completely voluntary – if you decline to take part the PNP representative will make a note of this so that we do not return to collect completed questionnaires.

We urge everyone to take part since this is a fairly unique opportunity for all of us to have our say. Don’t decline because you really hate forms or have trouble with them, but want to take part, we can make alternative arrangements – contact us via survey help.

There are different questionnaires for different age groups

We have looked at what other parishes and neighbourhood forums did, or are doing. There seems to be a wide range of approaches. What age range to include, if and how to divide them up is never going to be perfect. We decided to include everyone who can and is willing to take part. There are three different questionnaires, as follows

Survey Questionnaire for Adult Residents

The final step in a Neighbourhood Plan being developed is a referendum of everyone in the parish (or neighborhood forum). In our case the question asked will be “Do you want NHDC to use the neighbourhood plan for Preston to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?”

The process of getting from now to a referendum may take 1½ to 2 years. So today’s 16 year olds may be voting on our plan. This is why we have made the age range for the Adult Residents Questionnaire 16 years and over.

Survey Questionnaire for Young Residents

This is for residents aged 10 to 15 years. To produce a plan looking after the interests of all age groups we want to know what it is like growing up in Preston now. The first section is the same as in the Adult questionnaire. Subsequent sections are focused more on issues affecting younger residents, although the questions are still addressing planning related subjects.

Preston Parish for the Under 10’s

Asking formal questions of our youngest residents is more likely to yield the answers they think we want to hear – a bit like a test. So we have just asked one simple question “Please write or draw something you like about living in Preston”. This is about more than just involving all ages. Where the things they like can be affected (for better or worse) by planning policy we might want to shape our neighbourhood plan to protect or improve those things.

Delivery of questionnaires

Everyone who lives in the parish – including lodgers, temporary residents and those working or studying away from home – is allowed to have a questionnaire.
The return envelopes have a reference number on them and the PNP representatives will keep a record of which envelopes go to which address –

  • This is so we can make sure that we give everyone an equal chance of taking part.
  • It will also help us to make sure that we collect sealed envelopes from everyone who wants  – and not keep asking you if you have already returned or posted your envelope.
  • Note only the analysis team see what is in the envelopes.
  • This and the demographic questions enable the analysis team to show that everyone has had a chance to take part and that a fair cross section of our community is represented.

The PNP representative will ask you how many residents of each age group are in the household and then give you the correct number of each questionnaire. They will also give you extra envelopes if you need more questionnaires than will fit in one return envelope.
If there are any adults who are studying or working away from home they can still participate:

  • you can address an envelope for us to post their questionnaire(s) – the representative has a stock of blank envelopes for this
  • or a PNP representative can return with a questionnaire pack ready for you to address and post yourself

In either case we will pay the postage and provide a stamped addressed envelope for return of the questionnaire.
If there is nobody aged 16 or over available to leave the envelopes with we will leave a calling card and call back later. The Calling card says what to do if you would like to make alternative arrangements for receiving your questionnaire(s).

Collection of questionnaires

We plan to collect completed qustionnaires – sealed in the envelopes we provided – the weekend of the 28th/29th January. If you want to make alterrnative arrangements for collection you can:

  • Ask the PNP representative to make any note of any special requirements on their delivery form
  • Contact survey-help to make other arrangements – full contact details are published on the back of the questionnaires.
  • Return questionnaires at the drop in session on 21st January, if you are ready.
  • Post your envelopes directly to our analysts at The Insight Fountain (although you will have to pay the postage). Ask your PNP representative for the address or contact us via survey-help.

Analysis and feedback

The sealed envelopes containing the completed questionnaires will be forwarded to the research team at
The Insight Fountain and We Work With Data, who will manage the data entry, data processing and analysis of the survey.

They will report back aggregated results to the PNP Steering Group, which we will use to help inform the policies in the Neighbourhood Plan. Results from the survey will be made available and a public meeting held to discuss the implications and recommendations for the Preston Parish Neighbourhood Plan.

And after that…

The next steps start with the steering group and volunteers defining the objectives and broad direction of the policies for Preston Parish Neighbourhood Plan. There will be opportunities for you to join the volunteers in developing the plan and/or review the drafts of our work. However for this and subsequent steps your comments and input will be on the record and attributable to you.

Confidentiality

  • Adult and Young Residents’ answers are anonymous. and treated in confidence.
  • The responses to two of the questions on the Adult questionnaire may be scanned and sent to the steering group for further analysis – but these will not be identified to the household where the questionnaire was completed or with any demographic data – see page 5 of the Survey Questionnaire for Adult Residents for details.
  • Any under 10 who wants their writing or drawing on the website has the choice of whether they want to be anonymous or sign their work (subject to parental/guardian consent). We will not keep a record of who contributed what if they want to keep their work unsigned.