Handcross Neighbourhood Plan Handcross Business Focus Group Meeting Date: Thursday 31st May and June 12th 2012 Venue: Handcross Social Club Time: 6.30pm – 7.30pm on May 31st and 7.30pm – 9.45 pm on june 12th Purpose: To identify the big Issues, Concerns, Treasures/Cherish items and Change requirement of the Handcross business community and enable the construction of suitable questions for the proposed Parish wide NHP survey to be developed by Action in Rural Sussex (AIRS) for Slaugham Parish Council. Invited
Attended (Those highlighted in Bold attended the second meeting as well)
Hyde Estate National Trust Nymans (Simon Ley) Handcross Hardware & Crafts
Apologies for Absence received from
Nick Williams, Les Hampstead Manager Mike Revis- Owner Martin O’Boyle (June 12th only)
Just Scrumptious Patisserie
Churches Florist Handcross News Agents Goldilocks Haurdressers Get around Cars Playgroup Grosvenor Building Landscapes Genti Paula Craig Woolsey Builder and Social Club Social Club Michael Earle – Pavillion Tim Arnold – Parish Hall Royal Oak Pub Red Lion pub/Restaurant (Sam Assist Manager) Handcross Carpets Verralls Motor Cycles Nugent Engineering And So To Bed (Graham Shand)
Jackie Church Tanvi Amin - Owner Goldielocks Steve, Getaround Cars Martin Blake - Owner Genti Paula Craig Woolsey Trevor Steyning Michael Earle Tim Arnold Chairman Aide Buckingham
Declined to attend
And So To Bed (Graham Shand)
Handcross Butchers Alun Jones – Neighbourhood Plan Marianne Butler- The Pine Loft
Alun Jones Marianne Butler
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(June 12th only) Bob St George
Bob St George- Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group
Our meeting on May 31st was a brainstorm meeting and lasted just one hour. The one hour was very productive and view of the restricted time available the meeting focused on identifying the main business big issues, concerns, change needed and cherish/treasure items. The meeting on June 12th attended by just four business people was identify some of the potential solutions for the big issues, concerns, change and cherish/treasures items identified by the May 31st meeting The items below are NOT presented in any priority order.
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Business Big Issues 1. Traffic
2. Speeding
3. Parking
Comments and potential solution • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Handcross Traffic study needed Don’t stop traffic High volume of traffic through High street and village Calm Traffic Restrict width of big lorries entering village high street e.g. The Flower shop Introduce weight restrictions for all vehicles except for deliveries to shops High volume of HGV’s through high street Size and speed of HGVs through village a big danger Build up of dangerous volumes of traffic in high street, Horsham road etc Introduce and enforce 20mph speed limit in High Street Install a central speed camera in the High Street Implement more effective speed calming measure in High Street e.g. round speed dials on road surface, cobbled road surface etc Lack of adequate parking in the High Street More off street parking required especially in the High street Explore opportunity of sharing parking with some of the major businesses in the village e.g. Nymans, Red Lion etc. Introduce parking signs Introduce maximum time limits for parking in the high street during the day outside shops and enforce it Lack of signs informing of parking availability in recreation ground car park
Potential Negative Consequence • Reduced volume traffic could reduce village trade •
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Cost of enforcement? Who pays
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Local residents may strongly object to restricted parking during day Introduction of restricted high street parking could merely shift the parking issue to neighbouring streets Cost of enforcement? Who pays
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• 4. Empty Shops in the High Street
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Introduce incentives to shop owners to NOT hold onto empty shop premises e.g.: o Reduced business rates for occupied shops Parish Council and MID Sussex Council to
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5. Insufficient opportunity and incentives for local employment
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6. No Superstore open in this area
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7. Signage
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8. Community
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o work with Business owners to NOT leave shops vacant o parish council to ask vacant shop owners to display local information or allow community use of the shop premises e.g. hang painting of local artists and community advertising Introduce disincentives for owners to hold on to empty shops in the village e.g. o Increased business rates for empty shops o Remove relief for empty shops
Introduce community based projects Develop and implement a local new start up programme. Enable local people to more easily establish small new businesses of their own by o Providing a simple transparent way to start up their own business o Work with local government bodies, and grant authorities to provide incentives for new start-up businesses especially those that can provide local employment opportunities. o Facilitate access to local incentives for start ups e.g. low rent for fixed periods etc. Provide access to local supermarkets by extending the use of the community bus service Introduce local central ordering for products unavailable in the village. This could be a non profit making local community venture Lack of signage in Handcross Introduce better, more traditional signage to improve the attractiveness of the village Substantially improve all three entry and exit points to Handcross Village Introduce cattle grid entry to village from the A23 Businesses to provide greater support for local improvements and projects
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Easier access to local supermarkets could potentially drive business away from village shops
Involvement 9. Housing
10. Litter and Rubbish in public areas 11. Bus stop shelter
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Keep Handcross as a village More residents needed for Handcross shops to survive and prosper How many houses do we need? How many affordable houses do we need? Need more refuse/litter bins especially at bus shelters and in the high street
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Need all bus stops in Handcross to have canopied shelter especially in the high street to provide essential cover for shoppers and those using the bus services.
Concerns - Business 1. Recession
2. Future viability of local businesses (retail, industry, recreation) 3. Businesses need other businesses to be successful 4. Local businesses not working together 5. Local services and High cost of essential goods 6. Damage to empty units 7.
Comment and potential solution • More varied businesses opening in Handcross High Street will encourage more visitors/shoppers. to the village • Introduce local business directory paper and web based Establish a Handcross Business Forum that meets quarterly to discuss and lead on key business related concerns, issues and challenges. in the community and business community •
High prices of essential goods will price people out i.e. too expensive
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8. Dilution of markets 9. Safety of residents ref traffic 10. Infrastructure
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11. Not enough facilities/activities for all age groups 12. Younger families staying in village- not using shops etc 13. Village development will not benefit local business- contracts should favour local businesses Insufficient local transport
Change needed now to next 20 years 1. More Business employment opportunities 2. More Housing
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Handcross lacks a modern village hall Handcross is a dormitory for local towns in the region For its size Handcross has a good spread of shops which has to compete with local town shops Viability of Handcross shops dependent on sufficient local population Appearance of Handcross, especially the High Street needs improving
Expand local community bus service and provide more frequent bus service
Hyde Estate would like to establish as part of a larger residential development a 30 bed Care Home. This would have the potential of employing 35 – 40 full time persons, largely in the nursing, caring, catering and cleaning roles More houses within the village provides extra demand for existing and future local businesses
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3. Energy efficiency
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4. Lower Rents for local businesses 5. Introduction of incentives to attract and retain businesses in Handcross 6. Support for commercial development limited 7. 8. Wider cross section of different “customers” for local businesses (e.g. age groups, income groups and more diversity)Local business = local people i.e. sense of belonging and contributing. 9. Demographic of Handcross and
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As part of a larger residential development and Care Home mentioned above the introduction of a biomass central water heating system with capacity to supply to supply heat to Care home, Residential development plus have the capacity to provide heat to Village Hall. Doctors Surgery, Primary School and existing surrounding houses, Supply and demand – needs agreement with landlords
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Parking is an issue – What sort of businesses does the villages attract
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Identify areas/locations for commercial development Introduce light industry providing employment opportunities for local residents
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Unique shops offerings = wider audience
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voluntary services – attraction of younger group 10. Controlled building 11. Building programme to provide a range of suitable housing. 12. Need affordable faster broadband 13. Need parking signs 14. Start-up business help 15. Parish website to have a Handcross Business section with links to the individual businesses’ web page. 16. Free local directory of all local businesses 17. Online business directory of local business 18. Business Parking 19. Timed parking during business hours
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Incentives to use local labour/trade? See 7. Requiremens for local housing
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Lobby British .Telecom. Approach MP Discuss with local Council/Highways Bank/internet/Local Start up/have a local business forum
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Agree representation to speak with owner of Parish Website
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Circulate with Village magazine
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Parish Council to create web based directory accessed from Parish web site
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Need to identify location and arrange with council ? local residents support Why timed – affected people will be local residents and business shop owners No good will come if timed parking introduced
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Cherish/Treasure - Business 1. Community
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2. Mix of people 3. Doctors/Dentists facility in Handcross 4. Churches in Handcross 5. Shops in Handcross
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6. Recreation ground Handcross
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7. Village not small town
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8. Green public Space
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9. Nymans
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10. Public Toilet
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Clear understanding of what Handcross village wants to be eg. housing expansion, offices, controlled parking etc. Determined by issues raised in one above. Controlled by planning approval to support agreed increase ? This will be determined by other factors e.g partly retain uniqueness (no chains) of Handcross Shops Must be retained as part of any agreed planning/expansion Locals need to decide and agree what they want Handcross to be Needs to be protected due to limited availability Seek agreement with local landowners to make more land/green space available To be supported by local residents and businesses because Nymans brings a lot of visitors and potential customers to the village Who/where has current responsibility Petition from local business
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