Developing a Plan for Sustainable Service Provision in the
Rural Community of Billingshurst

For:

Billingshurst Community Partnership

30/06/08

Summary Report

Prepared by:

Wood From The Trees Ltd

Burton Rough Cottage
Burton Rough
Petworth
GU28 0JS

01798 342618
07769 658763

www.wftt.co.uk

1. Purpose and Scope of the Research

Billingshurst Community Partnership has commissioned a research study of the market, town of Billingshurst and its surrounding rural hinterland (the 'study area'). The study has been funded by South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) and Horsham District Community Partnership and has both local, regional and strategic objectives.

Local objectives

• Document current service provision in Billingshurst and its hinterland, and investigate how this meets the needs of the local community; taking account of constraints and the ways choices are influenced by necessity and/or preference.

• Establish the relationship between services available in the village and rural areas that make up Billingshurst's hinterland, and those services and facilities provided in Billingshurst (the market town).

• Investigate the skills required in order to make the community of Billingshurst and its hinterland sustainable.

• Assess the opportunities presented by various local strategies and programmes of work (e.g. Local Area Agreements) for current and future services provision.

• Provide a context in which proposals can be made to enhance and maintain the vibrancy of the town and villages, and meet local needs.

Regional and strategic objectives

• Use the Billingshurst research to determine whether a 'model for sustainable rural communities' for looking at service demand and provision can be formulated, which might be used to help inform delivery of SEEDAs Small Rural Towns Programme and the new Rural Access to Services Programme (RASP), in conjunction with key actions in the Regional Economic Strategy.

• Establish and explore those elements that contribute to a market town acting as a service centre and 'rural capital' to its surrounding hinterland.

In order to do this the study has involved the following:

• A review of definitions of, and requirements for sustainable rural communities, rural towns and rural services, which identifies good practice approaches.

• An audit of current provision of services in the study area, identifying strengths, weaknesses, planned changes and peripheral and competing service centres.

• A review of current patterns of service use, involving survey evidence and interviews with service providers, local businesses and other stakeholders.

• A review of the strategic context for the delivery and funding of services locally, and opportunities arising.

• Identification of possible actions to make Billingshurst, with its supported hinterland, a more sustainable service location.

• Developing a model which provides a framework for reviewing service demand and provision in other small rural towns.

This Summary Report presents the main findings, conclusions and recommendations of the work, with key statistical information. We have also prepared a separate Technical Appendix which provides our detailed analysis of survey and other evidence.

2. Sustainable Communities and Services

Sustainable communities are ones which provide for the main needs of their residents locally, or through good public transport links. In terms of service provision they are defined as having:

• well-performing local schools, further and higher education institutions, and other opportunities for lifelong learning

• high quality local health care and social services, integrated where possible with other services

• high quality services for families and children

• a good range of affordable public, community, voluntary and private services which are accessible to the whole community

• opportunities for cultural, leisure, community, sport and other activities, including activities for children and young people

• user-friendly public and green spaces with facilities for everyone including children and older people

• sufficient range, diversity, affordability and accessibility of housing within a balanced housing market

• a wide range of jobs and training opportunities

• access to jobs, key services and facilities by public transport, walking and cycling

• an appropriate level of local parking facilities in line with local plans to manage road traffic demand.

A sustainable community can be one place, or a series of places functioning together, such as a small market or rural town with its hinterland area. The ideal here is for the small rural town to function as what has been described as a 'rural capital', providing higher level services to its surrounding population.

SEEDA define a small rural town as having a population of between 3 and 20,000 people. In terms of providing a model for the small rural town Billingshurst (with some 7,000 people) is thus a relatively small example. However, Billingshurst is larger, in terms of population, than other small rural towns in this part of West Sussex, such as Storrington, Steyning, Midhurst, Pulborough and Petworth.

For individual services to be sustainable the following are necessary or desired:

• the service needs to be financially viable

• delivery of the service needs to be managed and staffed effectively, by people who have the right skills

• the service needs to address local needs and demand

• the service needs to adapt to meet needs as they change

• the service needs to be accessible to target users, with appropriate public and community transport links in place wherever possible

• service providers need to be innovative to anticipate and overcome challenges and opportunities.

Where a permanent, fixed use service is not viable the following options can address needs:

• fewer, multi-service outlets, with appropriate outreach service or transport in place for those who need it

• services can be brought into the location on a part-time or flexible basis (e.g the mobile shop or library)

• services can be provided at home (examples include the mobile hairdresser, home ante-natal visits from midwives and home visits from pensions advisors)

• services can be provided remotely, through the internet or e-mail, or through telephone help-services (examples include home shopping, taxing vehicles on-line and help-lines for tax and benefits advice).

The provision and accessibility of services in our study area, has been affected by a number of issues in recent years, whose impacts are mirrored throughout the rural UK. The principal drivers have been:

• policy decisions, driven by cost savings from economies of scale. This has affected services like health, post offices and also commercial services like petrol stations

• poor returns for individual business owners (like shops and pubs) which mean businesses are no longer viable.

Other challenges have come from

• the decrease in young people in rural areas who cannot afford to make their home there

• the increase in the numbers of people who work outside the rural community, and who access services at, or near, their place of work

• the increase in demand for services out of traditional working hours, and competition from providers elsewhere who accommodate this

• the growth of internet sourcing of goods, information and advice

• the growth of home-based leisure activity, replacing some demand for local social activities and provision.

The loss of local services has disproportionately affected those without access to private transport or the internet. Typically this includes those who are older and/or on lower income. The decline in rural public transport has impacted the accessibility of services for non-car users and groups such as young people in recent years.

The increased trend to work from home, some or part of the time, could prompt a revival in demand for local business services, and also retail and leisure activities. Our research (see section 4) indicates that those working locally are more likely to source services locally than those that work elsewhere.

There is evidence that people are often not effectively made aware of what services are available locally; or of alternatives which better meet their needs. This can mean that, despite latent demand, services close because they fail to attract users.

The decline of retail, and associated services, in small rural towns is a common issue affecting many locations, with a variety of approaches being taken to reverse the trend. Review of good practice suggests that such actions are most successful where there is:

• a clear direction and plan of action, with a champion to move it forward

• commitment and involvement of retailers who share a vision for the town

• direct working with major retailers, where they exist, who have a significant interest in the success of the town, and may be able to unlock investment funds

• an eye-catching, effective and co-ordinated information and marketing campaign which regularly reminds people about the attractions of the town.

The separate Technical Appendix to this report presents examples of good practice approaches which have been used to combat decline in, and revitalise, rural services.

There is scope to fight service loss, and even bring back some services to small towns and the rural area through innovative groupings of services as “service hubs”. Shared costs can enable more cost effective delivery. Supporting such hubs is an important thrust for both local policy and funding opportunities.

3. Service Provision in Billingshurst and its Hinterland

Billingshurst is located in Horsham District, West Sussex. It is 7 miles south-west of Horsham town centre. The surrounding rural area forms part of the Low Weald and provides an attractive mix of small villages and agricultural land, interspersed with woodland.

Billingshurst rural hinterland includes the villages of Wisborough Green, Plaistow, Ifold, Loxwood, Shipley, Coolham, Rudgwick, Alfold, Slinfold, Itchingfield and Barns Green. These villages, and their surrounding parishes, in combination with Billingshurst Parish form our “study area”, referred to throughout this document. This hinterland is bordered by the service centres of Horsham, Broadbridge Heath, Cranleigh and Pulborough. This means that for about 13,000 people, Billingshurst is the closest larger service centre. One and two car ownership are very high, giving most residents a number of accessible service options other than Billingshurst and the surrounding villages.

The nearest major centres, after Horsham, are Crawley (16 miles to north-east beyond Horsham); Guildford (20 miles to north-west); Worthing (20 miles to south) and then Chichester (23 miles to south-west) and Brighton (26 miles to south-east).

Other small market towns in the area which fulfil a similar service role to Billingshurst include the West Sussex market towns of Henfield, Storrington, Steyning, Petworth, Pulborough and Midhurst; and in Surrey the towns of Cranleigh, Haslemere and Godalming (which tend to be slightly bigger than their West Sussex neighbours).

The surrounding villages all have an infrequent daily (not Sunday) bus service to either Horsham and/or Cranleigh and Guildford. This means that some, but not all the villages (e.g. Plaistow, Ifold, and Loxwood) connect to Billingshurst by public bus. The innovative Billilinks service - which provides pre-booked spaces in a 'taxi-bus' on a defined route - has been introduced to address access to the town, linking with villages to the east and west. Billingshurst residents have an hourly bus service to Horsham and Pulborough and train service linking north to Horsham and London, and south to the coast.

Because of high car ownership, maintaining a viable, adequate public transport service for those without a car is challenging, and community transport provision thus very important.

Billingshurst provides the services of a small rural town or market town but, with a population of some 7,000 people, it is a relatively small example. Its key service strengths include:

• education provision

• other services for young people and families

• quality community space with a good range of social, learning and cultural services supported there, and

• (reflecting recent and soon to complete enhancements) sports facilities.

Billingshurst provides a generally adequate and useful range of financial and business services, and library and waste recycling facilities for the surrounding area. Its key service weakness is the depth and range of retail provision, which puts it at a disadvantage to competing centres and other small rural towns in the area, and limits its scope to function as the 'market town’, rather than as a large village serving an essentially very local catchment.

Annex 1 presents our summary of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the centre (SWOT analysis).

The hinterland has a number of relatively well served villages, typically with pub(s), shop, post office, village hall and sports facilities, and many with a primary school (Figure 1). Some villages (for example Shipley, Kirdford), however, lack one or more of these services. These services all play an important additional community role, as a social focal point.

Source: WFTT audit of provision

You can find a detailed analysis of services in the area in the separate Technical Appendix to this report. We have also provided an excel spreadsheet to Billingshurst Community Partnership which gives a detailed service listing by town and village, which local partners may find useful.

General Practice surgeries are located in Billingshurst, two of the larger outlying villages (Rudgwick and Loxwood) and in peripheral centres (such as Pulborough). Access to GP services is an issue for the minority without private transport, and community transport plays an important role.

There is also a major problem with access to hospital services from the area in general, and particularly by public transport. Horsham hospital has no Accident and Emergency service, and the nearest hospitals providing this are in Guildford, Haywards Heath and Worthing.

We understand that, with NHS lists full at some practices in the study area, signing up for NHS dental provision can be a problem for new residents.

Billingshurst provides relatively limited, and functional, comparison shopping. However, there are some examples of good quality retailers in the centre who successfully attract people into Billingshurst. Residents say they would visit more frequently if the range of shops, both food and non-food, improved (Figure 2).

Billingshurst has a small town centre Budgen supermarket, and reasonable range of independent food retailers (butcher, bakery etc). The centre faces competition for food and other spend from superstores on the edge of the hinterland (for example at Broadbridge Heath and Pulborough), which is likely to intensify with further development.

Current levels of 'footfall' are relatively poor. In consequence, it can be difficult to attract new retailers who prove able to set up and sustain a viable business to vacant units. This is because they face the challenge of drawing customers into their shop and the town centre, rather than just taking advantage of existing visitors and established trade.

The hinterland is fairly well served with village shops and post offices, but there have been recent losses and the Post Office proposes to reduce the Barns Green service to a part-time service.

Parking in Billingshurst town centre is a topical issue following the introduction of charges at the privately owned Jengers Mead car park. However, traders told us that parking was already limiting trade prior to this change. The two village centre car parks do not link up, and the 'library' car park - which is more accessible to Budgen - fills up early in the day. Hinterland residents (both very local and from the wider catchment) who currently do not visit or do not visit very frequently say they would come more often if parking were easier (Figure 2).

However, the issue of parking does need to be considered in the context of use patterns, as about half of Billingshurst’s more frequent service users (visiting more than once a week) live in Billingshurst parish, indicating that a sizeable portion of the centre’s regular trade is likely to come on foot.

Figure 2: Changes that would prompt use, or more frequent use, of Billingshurst for services

Source: Telephone survey of study area residents.

The study area has a good provision of popular village primary schools which play a vital role in village life and cohesion. In addition, The Weald school plays an important role in Billingshurst:

• as the secondary education provider for a wide rural catchment as well as Billingshurst and Pulborough

• as a major employer

• as a venue for sports, community, youth and adult education activities - thus boosting the range of services that the town offers.

Places at The Weald are generally oversubscribed and property agents told us that it acts as an important draw for families moving into the area.

The Brinsbury campus of Chichester College is located close to Billingshurst and accessible by bus. Courses available enhance other local life-long learning opportunities provided through adult education centres at The Weald school and some village halls. However, training provision suited to retail, professional and business services sectors tends to be delivered out of Chichester campus, rather than at Brinsbury.

Provision of community space is generally good, with village halls of reasonable quality in all the study area villages. Billingshurst Village Hall provides particularly good quality space which attracts commercial income to support the provision of community activities.

As elsewhere, however, village halls face the challenge of funding upgrades to facilities to allow them to continue to house certain activities and meet user demands, and a number of study areas parishes are seeking to improve their village hall facilities.

Local schools also play a role in providing space for community activities, which may expand as the Extended Schools agenda is implemented over 2008-2010.

Sports facilities

Billingshurst has seen a significant recent enhancement to sports facilities in Billingshurst with completion of the Jubilee Fields complex. This provides sports pitches, a high quality pavillion, fishing lake and informal open space.

Completion of a swimming pool, with associated facilities, at The Weald school site later in 2008 means that Billingshurst is likely to become a stronger focus for sports for the hinterland, capturing back 'trade' lost to Horsham, and benefiting from spin-off spend¹.

All the study area villages have a playing field or recreation ground which supports active sports clubs and with pitches for cricket, football and, in some instances, stoolball. The best provided villages boast a range of sports and sports pavillion with social club.

A number of villages are keen to support further sports provision, particularly options to involve young people in existing or new activities

Billingshurst Village Hall hosts a good range of theatre, music and film events for a centre of its size. Enquiries come direct to the hall or through the District Arts Officers. Some hinterland villages also host visiting theatre and film.

There is a good range of village based dramatic, art and music related societies, as well as annual village arts/music focused events.

The study area is attractive, with buildings of historic interest in many of the villages but is not a significant destination for visitors. The major 'attraction'; is Fishers Farm, but this is more likely to attract self-contained day visits from families with younger children, than generate spin-off spend in Billingshurst itself.

The visitor accommodation/hospitality offer includes village pubs, takeaways, Indian/Chinese restaurants and traditional cafes in Billingshurst centre, camping/caravanning sites and standard quality B&Bs. A recent improvement in the quality and range of café/restaurant facilities in Bilingshurst (with the opening of China Brasserie and the Burdfields café) has been welcomed - but there is more that could be done.

There is scope to develop, package and market visitor options in the area better; make more of what is available and improve visitor spend, perhaps focussed on walking and cycling, linked with historic assets. It will be important for such activity to link with projects and promotional initiatives for the wider area.

The main physical places for information in the study area are Billingshurst library (and those in peripheral locations), the GP surgeries, Billingshurst parish office and Billingshurst and other village halls.

Often residents perceive a lack of provision because they are not aware of local options. Village websites, parish magazines and notice broads and the local press are important, and many villages are committed to improving information provision through these channels.

Individual village communities could do more to share information and signpost to opportunities and facilities in Billingshurst and other study area villages, building on work begun by some parish clerks.

Several villages provide a lunch-club or friendship club, offering a weekly or fortnightly social opportunity (supported by community transport), as well as other village hall based activities which attract the more mobile elderly.

The main local authority day centres are in Horsham and Cranleigh, and the Brooke Centre in Pulborough with transport provided. Day-care is also offered by the private nursing home in Billingshurst. There are privately operated residential care homes in Billingshurst and Slinfold, and also provision in Horsham and other peripheral centres.

Policy makers recognise the constraints which funding regimes place on service provision to rural areas, and thus the need to raise awareness of services and opportunities which exist for older people, and of community transport options to reach them. However, there can be problems with encouraging some older residents to use services like lunch clubs outside their local village.

There is a good range of youth provision in the town of Billingshurst - through after school activities at the Weald, the innovative Billli-rox music-nights and village youth clubs. There is also on-going discussion about providing a new youth facility in Station Road.

Outside Billingshurst, there is a strong interest in village youth clubs with facilities well-used, but finding staff and volunteers to consistently run clubs is very problematic. The Youth Service told us that they have limited staff capacity to support clubs through periods of staff loss and shortage, and village clubs are thus vulnerable to closure. Funding can also be an issue for some clubs.

There is perhaps scope to improve access to youth services through better use of community transport to clubs in other villages.

A new Centre for Children in Billingshurst completes in August/September 2008. This will provide a new home for the WAKOOS childcare centre, with expanded childcare places, and a range of other support, social and advice facilities for families. This will boost support for families throughout the study area. Other day-care and 'sessional'; care options are available with childminders, village play-groups/pre-schools.

The research indicates that parents prefer to source before and after school care very locally, and the Extended Schools agenda will encourage schools to review options to provide this. However, there are financial and staff issues associated with effectively providing this to meet parents' needs.

The study area villages and parishes are generally active communities. As elsewhere, a small core of volunteers tends to support community activity. Our interviewees said they are usually able to pull in others to support and run activities and events as required - but in some parts of the study area they need to work hard to do this. The main gap identified is in recruiting individuals with skills and interest in providing activities for young people. Some parishes also identified a need for skills related to web-site design and maintenance.

Co-ordination of services at village level is through the Parish Councils (and also in Billingshurst the Community Partnership), village hall management groups and informal networks.

Action in Rural Sussex is an important source of support, as are the district councils. We identified several good examples of joint working between the community and county and district local authorities to bring both major projects, and smaller initiatives, about and to address the complexities of funding.

Financial, legal and professional and business services

Billingshurst is a centre for banks, solicitors, accountants etc. Our survey indicated that some study area residents go to Horsham, Broadbridge Heath, Cranleigh, Petworth and Haslemere and there are also a number of accountants/financial advisers located in hinterland villages, who will travel to visit clients. The maximum travel distance to a bank for study area residents is 7-8 miles.

Other business services (like commercial cleaning, catering, print/copy services and IT support services) are available in Billingshurst, with several options for most.

Business representatives told us that they like to source locally where services/products are available, of good quality and cost effective. However, businesses that have moved into the town often persist with established relationships with business service suppliers elsewhere. There is thus scope to bring local businesses together to mutually support each other and source locally. The newly re-formed Chamber of Commerce, and other business clubs, are useful potential avenues for this.

There is a range of industrial/office space on the south side of town, in the town centre (professional offices) and around the station, which attract both local and in-moving businesses when they become available. Advertised vacancy rates here are low and there is evidence of refurbishment and upgrade to premises.

Businesses told us that they can have problems finding larger premises to move on to in a relatively small local property market. Reflecting this, district level research² identifies need for additional space for micro-busineses in rural areas, small towns and villages to support economic growth.

Home-based business is important and there may be scope for developments like live-work units or the provision of serviced meeting/business space to support their growth. However sufficient scale of demand would need to be established to justify such an investment.

4. Service Use Patterns for Billingshurst and its Hinterland

Billingshurst's area of influence

Information about services use patterns has been derived from:

• A telephone survey of 350 households resident in the study area

• A survey of 144 pupils attending The Weald secondary school, in Billingshurst

• Interviews with a range of stakeholders involved with service provision.

This research confirms that Billingshurst draws service users from throughout our study area, which includes the parishes of Billingshurst, Wisborough Green, Kirdford, Plaistow & Ifold, Loxwood, Rudgwick, Alfold, Slinfold, Itchingfield and Shipley. The maximum travel distance to Billingshurst within this area is about 9 miles. There is also an element of draw, for non-retail services in particular, from Pulborough parish, which has a direct train link.

Three-quarters of the residents in the study area visit Billingshurst for services more than once a month, about two-thirds visit once a week and about half visit twice a week.

However, analysis of frequent visits for services suggests a core catchment area of

• the parishes of Billingshurst and Wisborough Green

• extending north-west to include Kirdford, Plaistow and Ifold

• extending south-east to include Shipley and Coolham

Billingshurst is the closest larger centre both distance and time-wise for these locations, with a maximum travel distance of some 8-9 miles, but most residents are within 5 miles.

Service user patterns confirm that the catchment area for Billingshurst services is confined by the main competing centres of Horsham and Cranleigh, as well as food superstores at Broadbridge Heath and Pulborough. Services provided within the other study area villages (and those on the periphery like Southwater) also have an impact, as do higher order, more distant, centres like Guildford and Crawley.

Service use patterns indicate that the key factors influencing decisions about where to source services are proximity and accessibility. Thus residents will choose to use a service in their local village if it is available, and then look to the most accessible alternative. Decisions about where to go are then influenced by accessibility in terms of proximity, travel time and ease of parking. The choice of centres within a fairly similar drive time for many study area residents curtails the share of users captured by Billingshurst's services.

Billingshurst's lack of a food superstore coupled with limited comparison goods outlets (particularly clothes/gifts) reflects in the size of retail catchment, and strength of spending draw (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Percentage of resident households who visit Billingshurst to shop (by goods type)

Source: Telephone survey of study area residents.

• Only 20% of study area residents visit the centre for a main food shopping trip, and Billingshurst is 5% is this their only main food destination.

• The core catchment for food shopping is limited to Billingshurst and Wisborough Green and the closer parts of Plaistow & Ifold parish.

• Visits by residents of locations beyond Billingshurst and Wisborough Green to buy clothes/gifts are limited.

However, Billingshurst's retail strengths are apparent in the level of visiting from the outer catchment area to buy household goods (65% study area residents), for local food (54%) and to use shops like Jim Hill Sports, DK Vintners, Burdfields (farm/speciality food shop with cafe) and Austens (hardware and homeware), which attract people in to the centre. Working with such retailers to ensure they continue to trade in the centre should be a priority for any action plan.

Billingshurst attracts a good proportion of local residents (from within Billingshurst and Wisborough Green parishes) to most of the non-shopping services offered.

Billingshurst's 'market share'; of users who live outside these two parishes is highest for some commonly accessed services which are not available at the village level (for example waste recycling, banks and the library) and also for restaurants, cafes and takeaways. This reflects in high overall levels of use of Billingshurst by service users in our survey area. Figure 4 illustrates. These services are what might be termed small rural town or market town functions. Their continued provision is vital to Billingshurst continuing to function at this level, but with some decisions (for example about bank branches) made nationally not locally, it can be hard to influence future provision.

Billingshurst's 'market share' of users who live outside the town tends to lower for what might be termed 'village services' (which are also available in some form in the majority of the other study area villages). These services include social activities and clubs and some sports and fitness activities. Essentially Billingshurst is functioning as 'another village', serving its local residents with respect to the provision of these services, rather than as a higher order market town. Use of these services by Billingshurst parish residents is very high - 56% use Billingshurst for social clubs and activities and 39% for sports and fitness reflecting the good range of opportunities available.

There are, however, incidences of people travelling to use such services in Billingshurst where there are gaps in other villages - for example by Shipley and Kirdford residents for social activities and clubs and activities for children.

Figure 4: Percentage of service users who access non-retail services in Billingshurst (by service type)

Source: Telephone survey of study area residents.

Some services have a scattered provision, with outlets in some villages, in Billingshurst and in the larger centres like Horsham. These services include hairdressers, some business services like accountants and financial advisers (who may be home based and travel to client homes/premises), car repair and servicing, dentists and vets. This reduces the draw to the small rural town and affects the shape of Billingshurst's catchment.

The user patterns show that the higher order centre of Horsham competes most strongly for study area users of accountants/legal services, business services, hairdressers and the dentist. This is likely to be about service differentiation, with a stronger offering in the larger centre. For example the range of accountancy, legal and business service skills is probably greater; and larger 'trendier' salons tend to attract younger clients.

In addition to local service users (from the study area) Billingshurst will attract some visitors living further away. Although this study has not set out to quantify this, it suggests that there is some service use by:

• people working in Billingshurst, but living outside the study area

• 'passing trade' - primarily those driving in an east-west and west-east direction as these people come through the town, rather than using the bypass

• families of The Weald school pupils who live out of catchment

• people drawn by specific services - notably a handful of respected retailers and some social/recreational activities.

However, in all cases the range of retail facilities available and parking issues limit frequency of visits and spend captured from these groups.

Figure 5: Use of hinterland villages for services

Source: Telephone survey of study area residents.

The survey indicates a good level of use of village services in the hinterland villages, with only 13% residents not using any village service. Figure 5 shows the proportions of hinterland dwellers that use their nearest village for a range of services.

A surprising 35% use their village as a main food shopping destination. This figure is actually higher than the proportion of Billingshurst parish residents who use Billingshurst as a main food destination. This probably reflects the relatively good quality of shopping in the larger villages. It may also indicate a good degree of local loyalty and support for village services.

Village based sports/fitness activities, social activities and arts/cultural activities attract all age groups, although the oldest (75 plus) and youngest (18-24) are less likely to be involved.

Influence of work patterns

The research suggests that that where people are working locally, they are more frequent users of their 'small market town' (Billingshurst) for services. Rates of frequent use are higher for both those employed within the study area, and those study area residents who work from home. The local services most affected by out-commuting (rather than working locally) are main food shopping, banks, library, car repair and servicing and sports/fitness activities - with some people electing to use these services near their place of work (Figure 6).

Figure 6: Use of selected services in Billingshurst by local workers, out-commuters and home-workers

Source: Telephone survey of study area residents.

People who work at home in general display a similar pattern of service usage to local workers, and are more likely to use Billingshurst for the post office, for top-up food shopping, and to purchase household items than the sample average.

Whilst a good proportion of young people who attend The Weald school use Billingshurst centre to buy food and drink items, other spending is very limited, although there is evidence that young people living outside Billingshurst who travel in to visit the sports shop.

In general, young people visit the same set of shopping centres as their parents, however the research suggests that Crawley is a more significant shopping location for young people than it is for adults and that their use of the internet for purchases is notably higher. One quarter of our sample of Weald students interviewed buy clothes and presents through the internet, and 59% use the internet to buy CDs, music, electrical equipment or books.

The Weald School plays an important role in providing extra-curricular activities for students, with just under half of the sample attending some form of 'after school' club. Place of residence does not noticeably influence involvement in after school clubs, with late buses running on club nights.

Half of the young people interviewed attend some other form of sports activity outside school clubs. Most commonly young people use their local village, or nearest sports option. Billingshurst is also an important centre, as well as the sports centres in Horsham and Broadbridge Heath.

About one-third of our sample attends youth groups or regular social activities for young people. Again the trend is to use the closest facility to home.

The survey suggests that completion of the new swimming pool at The Weald site will be an important draw for young people, with over 70% young people saying that they and/or their family would use the new facility at weekends/evenings. We also asked those who said that they would use the new facility if they thought their families would combine a trip to the pool with a trip to shops, cafes etc in Billingshurst. Whilst many were uncertain about this, 30% said yes, many of whom live in the hinterland villages and are not currently frequent visitors.

The questionnaire sought to establish whether the fact that the young people in a family attended the secondary school in Billingshurst had any impact on the family use of the centre for services. Whilst many respondents were uncertain about this:

• one-third felt that it did cause their families to make some extra visits for services like shopping, bank, post-office and library

• one-quarter felt that it did cause their families to go to Billingshurst, rather than other locations, for sports, social or entertainment activities or clubs sometimes.

It is likely that the high level of bussing to school affects this trend.

Strategic documents affecting the study area, which set out policy and guide public funding, give a strong commitment to enhancing the viability and vitality of rural towns and villages, and of sustainable rural services. In particular these support the concepts of:

• small rural towns and larger villages as hubs for rural enterprise and key services

• provision of affordable local housing

• supporting local businesses, including the retail and tourism sectors - with advice, support services, skills and suitable premises for growth

• encouraging and supporting social and community enterprises

• better physical access to services

• public and other sustainable transport to services, including cycling and walking

• improving access to advice and support services and recreational and social opportunities, so that older people can remain in their own homes and actively participate in their communities

• activities and opportunities for young people to address 'boredom', and encourage participation in their communities (including volunteering)

• developing the market and outlets for local food and produce.

In terms of mainstream service delivery by local authorities, opportunities of current interest include:

• changes to the delivery of adult services through West Sussex County Council, which should result in better local delivery of support to older people and carers

• various initiatives under Horsham District Older Peoples Strategy, including raising awareness of services and opportunities through the POPPS project

• the Extended Schools programme, which aims to encourage better access to services (like childcare) for families and provision of community services through school buildings

• commitment to further develop informal leisure opportunities by Horsham District Council.

Given pressure on local authority funds, external funding sources will continue to be of prime importance. In terms of funding for potential projects the following are particularly important:

• Making use of S106 funds linked with housebuilding in Billingshurst to ensure services develop in tandem with population growth

• the Sussex Downs and Low Weald LEADER programme, which has scope to fund projects relating to the rural economy, rural services, community spaces and service hubs, and local food and produce

• the Rural Access to Services Programme which will particularly support innovative approaches to community transport and developing rural service hubs.

Having reviewed the needs identified through our research, the current role that Billingshurst plays and the constraints presented by competing centres, we suggest that a sustainable services action plan for Billingshurst should seek to address some, or all, of the objectives set out below.

A. Increase the use of, and spend on, commercial services (including shops, retail services like hairdressers/travel agents and cafes/restaurants) in Billingshurst village centre by catchment residents and users of non-commercial services in the town.

B. Increase the number of recreational visitors who come to Billingshurst and the surrounding villages, and their spending on commercial services and also improve the use of Billingshurst village centre services by 'passing trade'.

C. Address the challenges that parking in Billingshurst presents, ideally so that visitors feel confident that they will find a convenient short stay parking place.

D. Build local loyalty and commitment to Billingshurst as a thriving centre for services, both from residents, traders and businesses.

E. Support local businesses to grow, source locally and trade with each other.

F. Encourage full use of recreational, social, cultural/entertainment, sport and learning opportunities available in Billingshurst and the surrounding villages.

G. Improve use of community transport across the area as a means of accessing local services.

H. Ensure older people are aware of, and have access to, opportunities in their own, and neighbouring villages

I. Improve the sustainability of provision for young people, building on the good base which exists in Billingshurst and other village youth clubs, and sharing access to opportunities across the area.

J. Build on the roles that The Weald school and village primary schools play in providing a venue for services and activities to support the whole population.

Annex 2 sets out our suggested actions for local partners to consider in developing a sustainable services action plan for Billingshurst and its hinterland area.

In terms of activity that is targeted at catchment area residents, we suggest that the primary focus should be the parishes of Billingshurst, Wisborough Green, Kirdford, Plaistow & Ifold and Shipley and the northern parts of Pulborough. It would also be advantageous to target residents of Loxwood and Slinfold; then Rudgwick if resources permit.

Given the opportunity over coming years to access funding resources from both the LEADER and RASP funding streams in the area - which align strongly with the needs and options identified - we suggest that any action plan pays particular attention to the opportunities presented by these programmes, and have identified some possibilities in the suggested actions set out in Annex 2.

One of the aims of this research project is to determine whether a 'model for sustainable rural communities' for looking at service demand and provision can be formulated, based on the Billingshurst area example.

Our research indicates that small rural towns, and their surrounding villages, play a role in delivering services at a number of functional levels, each with different associated catchment areas. Some or all of these functional areas may apply to a specific rural town or village. We have identified four levels of function, described below:

1. As a local centre for 'village'; services: providing local services to the immediate catchment population (those for whom it is the closest centre). These services might be defined as 'village' functions and include village hall based social and recreational activities, youth provision, sports opportunities and clubs, food shopping, primary education, play groups and after-school clubs, pubs and a GP surgery.

In this respect the role of the small rural town should not be to compete with surrounding villages, as a sustainable model (and that clearly preferred by residents) would see these services provided and accessed at village level. However, there will be situations where such services cannot be sustained in every village, and users then look to the closest option (whether town or another village) for the service.

2. As a rural non-retail service 'capital': providing essential services to the wider catchment which are not typically provided at village level - like banks, main post-office, dentist, pharmacy and GP surgery (where this is not located in other villages). Also as a central location for library and physical advice and information services. Other important services that fall under this role or function and attract from a wider catchment include:

• secondary schooling (and associated extra-curricular opportunities)

• lifelong learning opportunities, often based at school premises

• sports not provided at village level, and in particular a recreation centre and swimming pool

• restaurants and cafes, and arts/cultural opportunities

• all-day nursery based childcare (as oppose to playgroup sessions only)

• a range of business services and employment space

• personal services like hairdressers.

3. As a retail destination: important influencing factors are the proximity of competing shopping centres to residents; and whether or not the town has a good food superstore with adequate parking.

4. As a visitor destination: our research suggests that this can have an important influence on the ability of the town to support non-food shopping like clothes, books, jewellers and gift/present/luxury goods shops in small centres. Visitors in this context are defined as people who go to the town, not because it is the closest option, but because it is an attractive or interesting place to go. They thus might include tourists, day visitors or people living in the wider catchment area.

In understanding how effectively a centre is operating at each of these levels of function it is important to take account of transport links and accessibility. Where car ownership is very high, public transport links do not appear to have a major influence on service location choices. However, good public and/or community transport links can play an important role in enabling:

• young people, some older people, those on lower incomes and others with mobility problems to access all types of service, including social and recreational opportunities outside their own village

• public transport users to use local centres for shopping and related services, rather than travelling somewhere which is further away but more accessible to them (thus retaining trade locally).

Reflecting these four levels of function, our research suggests that small rural towns (population up to 20,000) typically fall into one of three broad categories:

1. Functional smaller centres, with the following typical characteristics

• resident population usually less than 12,000)

• a limited visitor draw

• the main shopping base is the immediate local area (although a good superstore with parking or specialist retail can draw people in from further away)

• provide 'village' functions and a sense of village community: village hall based social activities etc

• act as a central point for its hinterland for services like banks, library, GP surgery, recycling

• a secondary school

• sports/leisure facilities which attract into the centre (for example a leisure centre or swimming pool)

Local examples include Billingshurst and Storrington.

2. Larger small rural towns with the following typical characteristics:

• 10,000 population plus

• a location relative to larger centres which enables it to serve a wider catchment as a retail and commercial service centre, and be a shopping destination

• a food superstore with good parking

• a secondary school

• good sports/leisure facilities, including a swimming pool, which attract into the centre

• provide 'village' functions and a sense of village community: village hall based social activities etc

• may or may not have a tourist/visitor draw

A local example is Haslemere.

3. Visitor destinations with the following typical characteristics

• resident populations less than 10,000

• an attractive historic centre

• a good visitor draw because of its historic centre, and/or the presence of a significant attraction or heritage asset

• the visitor draw enables the centre to 'punch above its weight' with respect to non-food retail provision, cafes and restaurants and local/speciality food outlets

• but the main shopping base is still from the immediate local area

• provide 'village' functions and a sense of village community: village hall based social activities etc

• will probably have a secondary school

Local examples include Steyning and Midhurst.

We have developed a model for looking at service demand and provision for sustainable rural communities. The model comprises a 'checklist' of pieces of information/evidence to be gathered and considered under each of the four areas of function described earlier. The model also provides a set of questions to answer which will help define current levels of services provision and identify un-met needs.

The model is intended to help users:

• review service demand and provision in a defined rural area (small rural town and surrounding villages) in a structured and holistic way

• assess success in delivering the services required to support each of the four areas of function, in the context of demand

• identify the key functions of a specific rural centre

• identify weaknesses in provision, relative to demand

• identify realistic areas for improvement, and support action planning

Having used the model, the user should have a better understanding of where action is needed, and where it can make most difference. For example, if the centre emerges as a weak visitor destination, it may be challenging to establish a visitor base. The centre might better focus on developing other strengths.

The model is set out in Annex 3.

The Welland benchmarking tool has been developed based upon research carried out into the performance and functioning of 14 rural towns in the Welland area of East Midlands. It focuses on retail and related commercial performance. It provides a cost-effective 'tool-kit' for collecting a set of data about town centres, which can be used by local partnerships and action groups to help establish information base and compare with performance elsewhere.

We have considered how the Welland approach might contribute to an overall model for reviewing service demand and provision in small rural towns, and suggest that it has the following potential benefits:

• the approach provides a useful framework for monitoring change in measures of retail effectiveness (like footfall) and thus supporting bids for funds and measuring the effectiveness of town centre initiatives

• it allows benchmarking with other centres in the same area which could be used to inform regional/sub-regional initiatives and targetting of funds

• once a strong national database to benchmark against has been established, comparison will help highlight real local issues for individual towns - for example whether vacancy is unusually high or rental and footfall changes are contrary to a national trend

• the process of gathering 'Welland' data can be used to bring together local stakeholders and build a community of interest around town centre issues

However, there are some limitations to using the approach at the small rural town level:

• it only addresses retail-type provision, rather than the wider range of market town service function (e.g. social and community activities)

• currently the comparison database is relatively small. Smaller towns need to be able to compare with a good sample of centres of similar size, as comparison with larger centres will produce a very negative picture

• there may be issues gathering some elements of reliable evidence (e.g. property rents/yields) for smaller centres

• two of the 14 Key Performance Indicators used are about multiple retailers who are unlikely to be present in smaller centres - an additional assessment of the quality of independents would add value here

• the results need to be interpreted in the wider context of the towns geography - particularly proximity and strength of competing centres

• It is important to consider retail provision in the context of services provided in the villages and rural areas that link with a small rural town. For example, do they already offer a strong local food provision?

Benchmarking: comparison of performance of one centre with others of similar character by comparing a range of common measures

Community transport: transport organised and managed on a not-for-profit basis by local communities, often using volunteer drivers. Funded by customer payments and often grant subsidy. Includes volunteer car schemes (e.g. transport to hospital appointments for elderly people) and also community minibus hire options.

Comparison goods: goods which are bought less frequently and for which shoppers will 'shop around' and compare prices, range and quality. We have used use this term to describe both clothes and gift shopping as well as infrequent purchases like electrical goods.

Convenience goods: goods which are bought frequently like food, household cleaning items and like newspapers.

Extended Schools: a DFES initiative linked to the Every Child Matters Agenda. Extended schools seeks to improve availability and access to services for young people and their families; develop the delivery of additional non-traditional services through schools and make use of school buildings for community use. Local groups of schools have been set certain targets to reach by 2010.

Footfall: number of people passing certain locations in a shopping centre over a particular time period. High footfall suggests more shoppers and higher spend/

Higher order centre: shopping centres providing a greater range of goods, services and retail outlets

Hinterland: the area around a service centre (whether town, village or city) to which it provides services

Multi-service outlets: locations providing a number of services under one roof/at one place.

Outreach service: a service which is periodically taken out, or made available on request, to users in their homes or local communities.

Service hubs: clusters of services in a specific location or building which are co-located to save costs and make for more efficient delivery.

Sessional care: describes morning or afternoon childcare sessions, usually of about 3 hours. The UK Government funds sessional care for all three/four year olds who are pre-school.

Small Rural Towns Programme: programme funded and managed by South East England Development Agency. Supports communities in small towns to come together to identify needs and actions to support the vitality of the town, and funds implementation of some projects. Funding under the programme is now largely committed.

Study Area: Our study area includes the parishes of Billingshurst, Wisborough Green, Plaistow & Ifold, Loxwood, Shipley (which includes Coolham), Rudgwick, Alfold, Slinfold and Itchingfield (which includes Barns Green).

Sussex Downs and Low Weald LEADER programme: The Sussex Downs and Low Weald area has been allocated funds under the European LEADER programme to support projects related to:

• local food and produce - including supporting retail and local food/produce based businesses and services is rural areas

• supporting micro-business and the services for the visitor economy

• developing community hubs, community spaces and the innovative and sustainable delivery of services to the local community

• connecting rural communities - supporting communities to become involved in developing cultural, built and environmental heritage

• renewable energy

Funding runs from 2008-2013.

Rural Access to Services Programme (RASP): This will provide funding for a range of projects to improve access to services. Billingshurst comes under the West Sussex Rural Access to Services Programme.

For more information about LEADER and RASP, contact Lisa Creaye-Griffin at West Sussex County Council

Notes on using the model

Using the model is straightforward and will involve a number of steps, set out below:

1. Define the area

The model looks at the small rural town and its surrounding villages. There are no hard and fast rules about the shape of area of influence of a small rural town, which will be strongly affected by the location of other larger and competing centres. For the Billingshurst study we used the secondary school catchment area, which was broadly appropriate as a wider catchment.

2. Work through the checklist and answer the questions for Village Service function for each village in the study area as well as the market town

3. Work through the checklist and answer the questions for the other three functional areas for the small rural town: Rural non-retail service capital; Retail destination; Visitor destination.

4. Gathering information:

Some of the information needed will already be known. It is best to record this first and then fill the gaps. A walk around the village, town with the checklist will provide a number of elements of the information.

Other means of filling the information gaps include:

• workshops/discussion with a range of stakeholders (e.g. members of a Parish Council or local Chamber of Commerce)

• web-research (e.g. school websites, bus timetables, google searches)

• discussions/interviews with providers of specific services (e.g. school management, managers of sports facilities)

• Local information sources - parish magazines, village hall and other noticeboards and websites.

The more difficult information to gather will include information about:

• business confidence

• demand for services and un-met needs

• origin of shoppers

• shopper satisfaction.

Ideally, if resources permit, these need to be gathered through some form of survey. If resources do not permit this, a discussion session or workshop involving a representative group can give a useful indication of demand, confidence and un-met needs.

We would suggest that, if a location is keen to gather detailed information about shopper satisfaction and origin, they consider subscribing to the Welland toolkit, and using their survey formats, as this is a cost-effective approach and provides the added benefit of benchmark comparison. However, they might wish to customise the survey format to address specific local issues and needs.

5. Use the information gathered to assess performance and role of the small rural town, and functioning of the rural area under each of the four functional areas. This exercise should help establish:

• What role is the small rural town fulfilling?

• What are the gaps/weaknesses?

• What are the strengths?

6. Identify areas and opportunities for action

The model checklists and questions follow.