Ogmore by Sea Community Consultation
Creative Rural Communities, the rural regeneration team from the Vale of Glamorgan Council, organised a community consultation for Ogmore By Sea at St Brides church hall on Thursday 5th January 2012. It was an opportunity for local people to have their say about the community they live in and propose project ideas that they could possibly progress to benefit of the community. Creative Rural Communities has several funding opportunities and officers can help sign post groups and project ideas for funding where possible.
The event was advertised in the local shops, and pubs and a flyer was posted through every households door. Creative Rural Communities also e-mailed local contacts as well as the community council who were asked to circulate the information. The St Brides, Ogmore-by-Sea and Southerndown website put the event in their diary of events and information was put on the Creative Rural Communities Facebook page.
Over 46individualsattended and all were asked to sign in and to note what they expected from the evening. Residents were then asked what they loved about Ogmore By Sea and what could make their community even better. The following is a summary of the information from the consultation:-
We asked people on arrival what their expectations from the community consultation then on the evaluation form at the end of the community consultation event asked them what they could do to help to progress any project ideas on behalf of the community.
Key points that emerged from the community consultation:
On arrival, when signing in key issues were as follows;
- 8 people mentioned support for a children’s playground or other facilities for children.
- 7 people specifically mentioned the need for a hall or meeting place.
- 3 people specified the need for a pub.
- 4 other people were not so specific but mentioned the lack of facilities.
- 1 person mentioned the need for allotments.
- 10 people did not mention a specific project but said that they had attended the event to support their community or to get information
When asked “What I love about Ogmore by Sea” people said the following;
- 46 comments specified aspects of the natural environment – the beach, the sea, walks etc.
- 6 comments drew attention to the community feel and the people.
- 7 comments mentioned the peace and quiet.
Other comments included:
- The growing number of children.
- The late bus from Bridgend
- Yes but it needs amenities e.g. Hall, PlayPark for the children
- It’s fantastic don’t change it
- All of it!!
- Great place to live, good community but unfortunately worn and run down.
When asked what could make your community better?People said the following;
- 34 comments called for a need for a community focus/ meeting place. Of these 17 specifically mentioned a pub, 11 a hall and 3 a hotel/guest house.
- 17 comments made reference to cleanliness- litter etc. Of these 7 specifically mentioned dog mess.
- 16 comments called for a new playground for children.
- 2 comments called for allotments/growing space.
- 2 comments called for revenue from local car parking to be kept locally.
Other comments included:
- Slipway – grant approved. Waiting for legal agreement. Life Guard Club
- Family beach festival
- More rental housing
- Post Office – no further reduction in hours
- Downloadable child sea spotter sheet
- Wildflowers
- Walking map guide
- More traffic calming measures on main road and double yellows near shops and church clock
- Public toilets re-open beside playground
- Make improvements to church – create meeting room
- Monitor camping on beach and parking
- Picnic area BBQ
- Ban non local surfers
- Community mindedness
Progress from consultation
- The Village hall committee have had a meeting to elect a new committee to take the project idea forward of applying for funding for a community facility.
- A new community group has been established to look at a community play area/facility for Ogmore by Sea.
- A beach clean up/litter picking group have been established and given equipment with no charge to help them with the tidy up with 10 volunteers and the offer for all waste to be collected and removed by the Vale of Glamorgan Council at no cost this is due to take place early February 2012.