Community survey reveals raft of positives and negatives
THE second meeting to formulate a plan for Charleville town for the next five years was again well attended by representatives of local groups and organisations at the Charleville Park Hotel, where the results of a survey of local people were revealed, showing very interesting results, and while some were positive, others were negative.
It showed that over half of the respondents had lived in the town for over 30 years and 63% of people were volunteers in the community, some giving up to ten hours a week in voluntary work.
The survey said that the quality of life locally could be improved by attracting more employment, promoting tourism, providing better amenities and facilities such as more defibrillators and the creative use of the vacant buildings in the town.
Local co-ordination was lacking as was a shared community vision, and more people should be involved in promoting inclusion and a sense of belonging, as well as implementing programmes for younger people and services for older people.
The question asking for three words to describe your community prompted a mixed reaction, such as pleasant, friendly, caring and welcoming, vibrant, active and busy, diverse and multi-cultural with good organisations. However, these were countered by unwelcoming and selfish, clannish and cliquish, fractured and disjointed, conservative and lacking in community spirit.
On the economic vibrancy of Charleville, half the respondents said middle income earners cannot afford to buy a house, and there were mixed views on whether people with business ideas can get support and advice locally. Only half of those surveyed said that the area is successful in attracting inward investment, and opinion was divided on whether public transport services were sufficient.
Less than one in ten agreed that Local government were providing good services, while there was disagreement on whether local policing was satisfactory.
Over 80% said that local business appreciates local custom and 60% agreed local people were good to support local business. Almost 60% agreed that the local economy was as strong here as elsewhere and 65% agreed that Ballyhoura Development was providing a good service for Charleville.
Two out of three people disagreed that Charleville has good facilities for young people, but nine out of ten agreed that there are good sports facilities available locally.
However, there was an equal split on whether there were good arts and cultural facilities available.
Only 30% agreed that schools and education services were excellent, while 30% disagreed and 20% were unsure, and 85% agreed that there were opportunities for inclusion and support for those with physical disabilities in the town.
Only 15% agreed that anti-social behaviour is not a problem and only 40% said that the community believed in itself, with 40% disagreeing and a further 20% unsure.
Only one in five of people aged between 25 and 34 years agreed that Charleville is a good place to live. However, those who do live here find it a friendly place to live, convenient for meeting friends and to major cities with good transport and amenities, good for shopping, with the advantage of having family nearby, a good quality of life and good community spirit.
Questions on the integrity of the environment, recycling and the planning and development all drew negative comments and the majority believe that the community has changed through population growth. It is now multi-cultural with a lot of foreign nationals now living in the town.
What is disliked about living in Charleville is traffic congestion, dereliction, lack of youth and arts facilities, no common vision, cliquish, small, shabby playground for children, anti-social behaviour, no out of hours doctor service, insufficient pubic transport, no environment initiatives, litter and dog fouling and lack of facilities for older people.
A discussion on these results then ensued and the attendance provided answers to a further three questions. These will be collated, conclusions drawn and a draft plan will be presented at the last and final meeting which will be held at the Charleville Park Hotel on Thursday, November 15.
However, when this draft plan is presented the next step in the process is for the findings in the draft plan to be implemented, and while the members of Charleville Heritage Society were the lead in initiating the socio-economic plan for Charleville, Paul O’Raw, the facilitator for the meetings, emphasised that the Heritage Society will not be the lead in implementing it.