Housing, Planning and Development
What Isle of Wedmore residents want.

Sample and methodology

This report draws on the following components of the Community Appraisal:

1. Main adult survey aged 15+. Self-completion questionnaire containing 40+ questions, distributed to approximately 1,200 households in the Isle of Wedmore. 795 questionnaires returned, representing a 35% response rate.
2. Six focus groups with elderly ladies and men, aged 70-85, teenage boys and girls aged 12-16, farmers and people whose families have lived here for generations.
3. Verbatim Comments from the 516 that were returned by respondents of the main adult survey, using the separate ‘Yellow Pages’.
4. The survey conducted amongst Wedmore First School pupils, aged 5-9 years.
5. Government Census data, collected from the Office for National Statistics.

Summary and Conclusions

(i) Over 90% of all the adults over 15 years old and living in Wedmore want to see some kind of additional housing provision, but they are very specific about which types, and where.

1. Top priority is provision for elderly people: sheltered housing with onsite warden; a nursing home and adapted housing for the disabled or infirm.
2. Second priority is affordable housing in small units, primarily as starter homes for young people (especially, but not exclusively, ‘local’), or for any singles or childless couples who want a small and affordable home - this could include the active retired, widowed people and divorcés. Whether these are rented or bought, local authority or private, is less important than that they should be affordable.

(ii) Parishioners do not want this expansion of housing provision achieved by the erection of large housing estates cutting swathes through the surrounding farmland.

Their first preference would be for new houses to be built on ‘brownfield sites’, however, accepting that this will provide limited land within the village, they specify the following alternatives:

• Any development involving the extension of the village boundaries to take place to the East of Wedmore, between Cheddar Road and Mudgley Road.
• Infilling to continue where possible, behind existing houses (i.e. preferably out of sight of the rest of the village)
• Small, controlled expansion of the village boundaries in places where houses can be built in keeping with the surroundings and, again, preferably out of sight of the rest of the village.
• People to be allowed to build for their own needs on their own land (as farmers can at the moment).

(iii) There is some feeling of frustration, indicating that the provision of these two types of housing is urgent and required now. With the next Local Plan not due for publication until 2011 (by which time, according to demographic projections, the need for specialist housing for the elderly will have reached crisis point in Wedmore) it remains to be seen whether an acceptable proposal can be put to Planners before then.

Detailed Findings

1) Development

The surrounding countryside is important to 98% of people living in the Isle of Wedmore. It is extremely important to 91%. Therefore, it is not surprising that 81% of parishioners want the parish to stay the size it is at present, with only 8% wanting it to grow any more, and a rather desperate 9% who would like to turn the clock back, as they believe the village has already grown too large. If the ‘no larger’ and ‘even smaller’ totals are added, this makes a dominant 90% of Wedmore residents who want no further expansion. Interestingly, the group most adamant that they wish to see no further expansion are the Under-25s - 100% of them want the village to stay the same as it is, or be smaller.

Specifically on expansion via the extension of Wedmore village boundaries, a small majority - 54% - would like no more extension of the village boundaries. Interestingly, this is a significantly smaller number of people than said they would like no further expansion of the parish overall. This discrepancy is partly, but not fully, explained by the fact that residents of Wedmore Village are significantly more in favour of there being no further extension of the Wedmore Village boundaries than are residents of the outlying villages who, presumably, see themselves as less directly affected by any such expansion.

Of those who would be prepared to see some extension, the preference would be to the East, between Mudgley Road and Cheddar Road, although there is little statistical difference between the preferences for N, S, E or W.

On closer examination, it seems that it is their very desire to preserve the countryside around their village that makes parishioners so emphatically against development and expansion. When asked about how farmland could be put to different uses in the future, if necessary, the top six mentioned were all ‘green’ uses:

For the first three suggestions, all adults and farmers are in agreement, although the farmers rather less enthusiastically. But, when it comes to the bottom three suggestions, there is a wide divergence between what farmers want and what the rest of the parish adults want:

Although a minority of farmers are in favour of these, it is a significantly larger minority than for all adults, who represent 94.5% of adult parishioners. This disparity of views is not surprising since, for farmers, the land is bound to be viewed in terms of the income it generates, whereas for the rest of us it is seen more as a lifestyle or landscape amenity.

2) Housing

At first sight, the fact that 56% of adults believe that Wedmore needs more housing would seem to be at odds with the above findings showing 90% wanting no expansion of the village at all. However, this is explained by the fact that 51% (i.e. 91% of those wanting more housing) specify that this should be built on brownfield sites first, if available. On the face of it, with the amount of ‘infilling’ that has already been undertaken in the past twenty years, it is debatable whether what is left could provide many new houses. Without a proper audit of property and land it is difficult to know what would be classifiable as ‘brownfield site’ and also what would be likely to become available - possibly the BT telephone exchange behind the Swan Inn, the leather warehouse in Combe Batch currently in use as a business park, the St John’s Ambulance building? The amount of acreage is bound to be limited, unless existing homes are pulled down or converted to make way for housing that is more suited to present day needs of villagers.

Forty one per cent believe that no new housing is needed anywhere in the village. Of those who do feel that some new housing will be needed, these are the scores:

In spite of these relatively high scores, only a tiny minority stated that they or their family needed any of these housing types now. The highest score was 4% who said they needed low-cost housing for first-time buyers now; all other types scored 1%-3%. Similarly, when rating housing types for the future needs of their own children, only 13% parents felt their children would need this last type in the future, and 11% thought their children would need owner-occupied starter homes; all other types scored 0%-6%.

All the preferred housing types listed above scored quite highly for ‘whole community needs this’, indicating that most people feel that the parish ought to have some of these types of housing, even though they themselves have no immediate or future need for them.

Clearly, there is a relationship between availability of housing and of jobs. Elsewhere in the survey there is substantial anger expressed over the increased volume of traffic in and out of the villages caused by people commuting to work elsewhere. We know that only 4% of parishioners ever use the bus to get to work or business - almost all the rest use their cars. Furthermore, only 1% of parishioners declare themselves unemployed. Similarly, only 1% say they are claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance (these are probably the same 1%). The fact that the Isle of Wedmore has no unemployment does not, however, mean that it has a large range of available jobs to suit all workers. It means that, with the decline of farming and related support trades, most young people no longer expect to be employed in the village of their birth. Rather than register unemployed in Wedmore, they prefer to seek work elsewhere.

Before rushing into building many more ‘low cost rented for local people only’, we need to be sure that such a restricted type of housing would generate sufficient ongoing demand. Clearly, Worthington Close can provide a case study - has it always been possible to fill houses there, when they become available, from a ready waiting list of local people who qualify? How long is the waiting list presently? How long is it projected to be in 5 or 10 years time? How will demographic, economic and social trends impact demand over that period?

The case for specialist housing for elderly people - sheltered, adapted and nursing home - seems a much more solid proposition and is borne out both by the demographic forecasts, present state of non-supply in the parish, and the very real plight expressed by elderly parishioners.

3) Demographics

We have all been told for over a decade that the relentless march of the ‘Baby Boomer’ cohort, combined with a falling birthrate, would mean a future population with many fewer young people and many more old people. That ‘future’ is about to be upon us. It will affect the Isle of Wedmore disproportionately since, already, above-average numbers of our population are in the retired (65+) sector and the pre-retired, ‘empty nester’ (45-64, Baby Boomers) sector. Below is a chart showing the shape of the 2001 Wedmore population based on the 2001 Census and the Community Appraisal findings, and its shape in 2011 based on Somerset County Council and Sedgemoor DC projections (see appendix for details):

Data on migration is difficult to come by, except in the form of estimates made by the Office of National Statistics for the South West Region overall, from mid-1999 to mid-2000. This shows migration as the major factor in population growth within the region, whilst ‘natural change’ - i.e. birth rate vs death rate - shows a net decrease over the year.

The Community Appraisal shows the rate of migration into the village over the last 30+ years, and particularly shows the concentration of families with dependent children amongst those who have moved to the parish within the last five years, causing the Isle of Wedmore to have a higher percentage of children than there are in communities in the rest of Sedgemoor.

It can be seen, also, that the average age of adults who have lived in the Isle of Wedmore for less than five years is significantly lower than that of the parish overall, and that they have the highest concentration of the key ‘family’ age-band of 35-54 year olds:

This suggests a changed demographic pattern over the past thirty years. Wedmore is now not so much a village to retire to, and more a village to move to in order to bring up one’s children. This is either caused by, or coincident with, the excellent provision of local schools and the extensive provision of ‘family/executive’ housing stock, both traditional and modern.

So, although the ‘school-age families + empty nesters group’ is numerically very large in the Isle of Wedmore , representing over half of all adult individuals (see table above) this group is well-provided for by the existing housing stock in the parish, even allowing for their projected growth of 10.5% over the next 8 years.

However, the second largest population group - people aged 65+ - is due to grow by 18.6% by the year 2011. These people are almost unanimously concerned that , unless they can move out of their family-sized homes and into something small, manageable, affordable and - ideally - having a warden onsite for care and protection, then they will have to move out of their village and away from their friends and family.

Within this elderly age group, those aged 85+ are growing in numbers even faster - by 19.2% - over this period. They are what remains of the parents of the Baby Boomers, and improved social and medical care has meant that they are a rapidly growing proportion of the population. This is the group most likely to need the provision of institutional accommodation - i.e. a nursing home - and are currently most concerned about the lack of such provision in the Isle of Wedmore since the closure of Elmsett Hall (see verbatim comments below). Nationally, 13% of men and 21% of women in this age group (or younger) need to move to an institution in later life. In the Isle of Wedmore, therefore, with the present lack of provision, these vulnerable people will be obliged to move away from the villages in which most will have spent all of their adult lives.

What People Said About Their Housing Needs, and Development in and around Wedmore

(i) Development and Expansion. - The different population sub-groups

There was a more or less universal aversion to excessive building on ‘green’ sites from every age group from 5 to 85.

The youngest age group - 5-9 year olds - particularly appreciate the countryside around them for the opportunities to see wildlife and to go for walks; the peace and quiet and the safety of the wide open spaces in which they are allowed to play. When asked what they liked most about living in the Isle of Wedmore, these were some of their answers:

Age	Village	Answer
7	Blackford	It’s nice and quiet at bedtime and you can get to sleep really quickly. What is most interesting is seeing lots of wild animals and birds.
6	Cocklake	There are lots of walks
5	Cocklake	There’s lot of places to run around in. There’s lots of animals around. Its away from busy roads. Everyone knows each other.
6¾	H. House	You get to see all that’s happening and all the nature.
8	Blackford	That it’s not that busy.
5	Wedmore	Playing outside with lots of room

Teenagers - boys and girls aged 12-16 - also valued the surrounding countryside:

They thought that Wedmore was "very pretty", because of the adjacent farmland, particularly in contrast with Cheddar which they found ugly, urbanised and too big. Those who had moved here from city or town environments thought Wedmore was quiet, with little traffic at night, and street lighting not too bright. The preservation of surrounding farmland was unanimously supported:

"We need to keep the farming. It’s good for Wedmore, and there’s less and less of it now" (13 yr old, farming family lived here for generations).

The two from Blackford liked it very much, because it is quiet and rural, with nice scenery and everyone knows everyone. The two living in Wedmore found it "a bit busy", particularly in respect of the traffic.

"When I was younger it used to be a lot quieter, and I used to be able to walk from my house down to the village without a car going past, and now it’s really busy and there’s a lot more houses here than there used to be. It ruins the countryside. Where I live there used to be fields all around". (14 yr old)

"It’s in danger of losing what it stands for. It’s in danger of becoming commercialised, and stuff like that". (13 yr old)

Adults 15 yrs and over. There were some very emphatic comments against any further expansion of the parish:

"I would like to be reassured that existing village boundaries will be adhered to. I am concerned that agricultural land just outside village boundaries may be built on."

"Traffic is a major problem, local expansion would make it worse."

"We mover here a year ago because we wanted to be in a quiet rural village – sadly not so on a Fri/Sat evening when it can be very unpleasant The village should not expand but return to being a quiet, peaceful beautiful with a reputation for being just that.

Keep the character of Wedmore as it is."

"Only on brownfield sites ONLY. In the area where I used to live (57 years) from the end of WW2 all the farms, their fields and farm houses disappeared in 25 years and the local council changed from a rural district council to a London borough, along with all the noise and pollution of traffic all day and most of the night. If more housing is required why not build somewhere near the motorway a new town with all that is required on land of little value. Most of the new population will commute as the new towns around London."

"Wedmore and other small villages in Somerset that have not yet been spoiled by over-development should have a preservation order on the core of the village."

"I also think keeping the green belt is most important."

"Wedmore should not be allowed to become a city and lose its natural beauty. Please do not let this happen as in other areas.

"Please leave Wedmore as it is. England is in too much trouble as it is."

"Wedmore cannot expand further, the school infrastructure cannot cope plus class sizes of 44 (2 classes sharing one room)."

"I strongly believe places like Winscombe, Cheddar, Street and Wells should grow before the villages."

"Wedmore has been a wonderful village for our family to grow up in and for the past 30 years while we have lived here has altered but not to any disadvantage (in our eyes). To preserve the village it must not alter significantly in the future."

"I moved here to enjoy the countryside, so don’t want a ring-road, or housing development. Don’t mind farmers diversifying, but don’t want new buildings on farm land, would prefer woodland."

"We certainly do not, as the question implies, want to be the size of Cheddar."

There is a strong fear that Wedmore will go the way of other rural places, which have turned into towns, with fields tarmacked over and traffic thundering through at all hours. The residents of Wedmore are desperate to stop this happening - as though this is our last chance to preserve what we have.

The elderly - aged 70-85. Their concerns are less to do with the loss of green belt, and more to do with the loss of intimacy between members of a community that is a manageable size:

" You’ll get nothing unless you put something in yourself, and if the size of the community is so large then you put it in, it disappears into a great big void. But Wedmore seems to be just about the right size, so that, as I said, you’ve got 40 in the PROBUS, you know everybody and if the PROBUS were 160 people, you wouldn’t know them and it satisfies the relationship between the individual and the community."

"How does that make you feel about possible plans to build new housing or expand the village and make it more like Cheddar?"

"I think that would be a disaster."

"Because it would be too large. You would lose the interaction between the individual families ."

"Bigger is not beautiful."

"What’s been mentioned is the friendliness in the shops, but there are a lot of shopkeepers or people who work in shops know the villagers intimately and they can chat to them . You’ll get it in the bank even, people behind the bank know their customers and chat to them."

"There’s a different approach somehow in Cheddar."

"I think it’s because Cheddar is bigger and more spread out."

"It’s a lot more developed I suppose."

"Coming back to the size of the village, I don’t think it would hurt if it were a little bit bigger, I’ve always seen it growing and I think that all the growth that we’ve had quietly over the years, I mean when they built the estate, they were only allowed to build 10 houses a year. The Barrett Estate and the Alford Estate at that time so they were integrated into the village quietly rather than coming in one whole swoop and I think that’s, I think this business of building a great estate over two years, I think they become isolated from the village. I think that if development is slow, not too much, I don’t agree with building a hundred houses, but I think, if you don’t improve, you stand still. And I’ve seen so much improvements over the years that I think a wee bit more growth wouldn’t hurt."

"But as these estates have been built, no focal points have been put in; they’ve been all houses, so the population must come in to the village and is that is the force that holds the community together. The point I was trying to make was that if it gets much bigger, people will say, ‘well if we’re going to put an estate here, we shall have to have a something and a something’ and then you will start to produce a town which bifurcates."

"Yes, you’d have to have a parade of shops up there."

"I think that’s the secret of Wedmore, as Alan said, gentle and keeping a focus on the square and the shops."

"But as these estates have been built, no focal points have been put in; they’ve been all houses, so the population must come in to the village and is that is the force that holds the community together. The point I was trying to make was that if it gets much bigger, people will say, ‘well if we’re going to put an estate here, we shall have to have a something and a something and then you will start to produce a town which bifurcates."

(ii) Housing Needs - The different population sub-groups

Elderly people - aged 70-85 - There is an overwhelming and urgent need for sheltered housing for the elderly, and a nursing home for those too frail to live alone any more. Our elderly folk do not want to be driven out of the village because there is no suitable housing for them to move into. Many have lived here all their lives and the thought of leaving their friends and family is deeply upsetting.

" There should be more provision of sheltered housing in Wedmore."

"I do think we need it desperately. A lot of people are still living in their same house, widows and so on in family houses."

"Well you can’t go anywhere can you. Unless you want to move out of the village."

"Unless you want to move out of the village, so they struggle along in their big houses. There’s lots and lots of people I know, living in 4 bedroom houses."

"There are provisions in Wells."

"And I suppose the same now is true of nursing home provision in Wedmore, what’s been the feeling about the closure of Elmsett House."

"If somewhere like Elmsett turned into sheltered housing, it would probably be very successful and fill the gap. Flats."

"But how do you classify sheltered development? Is it all flats? Is it council subsidised? Warden assisted."

"It’s got to be warden assisted, there’s got to be someone on call."

"Or you can buy your own houses and there’s a warden."

"There’s somewhere in Wells, they’ve got all the facilities, a nice lounge, a place where they can go down and make a cup of tea, talk to their friends, but they’ve got their own flat."

"I want to stay in Wedmore, but the house is too big."

But these people are not only concerned about their own immediate housing needs. They also feel strongly that more provision should be made for young people, and they are appalled by the price of housing in Wedmore:

"I always feel that any new development should be cheaper, something that younger couples could buy and stay in for a while. Most developments are too expensive, certainly for first time buyers. I know you can’t blame the developers for getting what they can sell them for £350,000. Anything for £150,000 they don’t want to know."

"Do you think the planners should be taking account of starter homes?"

"That was the idea of Worthington Close really. Some of them rented, some of them partly rented, partly bought. That was the whole idea of that development and presumably, that’s how it’s worked."

All adults 15+

The same themes come up over and over again: sheltered housing, affordable housing, no more large executive homes, no large estates, no greenfield sites. However, it is not all negative and inflexible, and some people have come up with constructive suggestions as to how the community’s housing needs could be fulfilled without major impact on the style and character of the village: in particular, some people feel that residents should be allowed to build on their own land for their own family’s needs (as farmers are allowed to do at present), others feel that "small sites around the village boundary…would not be conspicuous. There are infill sites at the back of houses and gardens which could be developed. Maintaining an inflexible approach to a village boundary prevents these developments which would be far less harmful to the physical future of the area."

Many people, however are concerned over the pressure on local jobs, roads and existing services such as schools and health, if the population of the village is allowed to expand too rapidly or too much.

Some people whose families have lived here for generations resent ‘incomers’ and blame them for driving up the prices of local housing, although this is a very small minority.

"There is no employment in Wedmore and the building of new houses is not sustainable."

"I feel the village infrastructure/facilities could not cope with more housing."

"So far as housing is concerned the following principles need to receive attention:

• Government pressure for further development in the West makes any plan which is totally opposed to such development unrealistic.
• The needs which should be paramount in granting applications include provision for local people to be able to stay within their village; that might be by low-cost purchase, rent, private, Local Authority or Housing Association. The vehicle matters a lot less than the actual provision."

"Rather than think in terms of expanding Wedmore with housing estates, look at small sites around the village boundary and develop those which would not be conspicuous. There are infill sites at the back of houses and gardens which could be developed on a very small scale without harm to the countryside or the character of the village. Maintaining an inflexible approach to a village boundary prevents these developments which would be far less harmful to the physical future of the area."

"New housing developments are needed more in other villages than Wedmore because Wedmore is already big enough to support key facilities, whilst other villages are in danger of losing Post Offices, Shops etc."

"Restricted sale on all council houses/flats otherwise a free market."

"Any expansion of housing should only take place if appropriate local employment is made available."

"If there was to be any development in the Wedmore areas it should be for the village younger generations of the village and not for people who would like to live in the country after they have made a fortune."

"New affordable rented housing could benefit the community but in order to preserve the unique quality of the village it must be carefully sited and very well designed."

"Eight people live in our house (5 children). Houses are so expensive; difficult for any to move out!"

"Any new housing in Wedmore should be in very small developments (max. 4 houses) and in materials in keeping with village – not like that carbuncle of an estate behind the doctor’s surgery which will never blend in."

"I think the development of the village and surrounding district should be allowed to evolve for the benefit of its residents, not for the commercial benefit of professional developers."

"Priority should be given in favour of those residents wishing to develop within the curtilage of their own homes for the benefit of family members or local residents in a manner sympathetic to the area, its environment and life-style, rather than the building of cramped estates eroding the rural character of the area."

"Limited housing for young families that cannot afford big mortgages like myself (not necessarily low cost renting or even houses for first time buyers but something that is just affordable!)."

"Some careful thought should be put in if there are to be new houses built in Wedmore at all."

"How does any children that have been born in village expect to buy local property when we have all outsiders buying them those that earn high wages compared to local farm worker or low paid worker around our village my fathers, father who was born here going back generations my children will never be able to live here."

"Housing development seems to take place squashed into existing built on areas thus making an impact that I feel is unsightly and too dense. These are huge houses of executive style. Why is there no increase in small sheltered bungalow developments for our elderly and infirm?"

"Another similar small estate could be developed there to help our young people. Our village will only stay prosperous if we encourage the young to stay and make sure the elderly can cope here."

"Wedmore village boundaries – if there has to be any building it should be to the East."

"New housing should be of mixed types"

"Offer farmer who owns land east of Mall permission to build a few houses if he will sell or give local land to extend car park. "

"I consider that there is a need for a limited number of less expensive housing for renting or ownership by local people only. Also a warden controlled retirement home for local people."

"Wedmore and outside does not encourage young people to live in the area. Children who have been born and brought up in and around Wedmore cannot afford to buy a house in this area, and even when we have land of our own we are not allowed to build on it, but in Wedmore newcomers can extend their houses to make them bigger and others can seem to build anywhere in Wedmore. It seems Wedmore doesn’t want a young generation, just a retirement village."

"More warden assisted privately owned apartments for retired and/or widowed."

"Existing public services in Wedmore – schools, doctors, dentists are already overstretched. So the building of additional housing is not desirable unless steps are first taken to extend the public services."

"No more houses for people moving inside the area; property is too expensive with outsiders moving in to Wedmore."

"However, it is essential to provide housing for the young and the old of the village in order to preserve the community. I think some housing will be needed in the village in the future – this should be ‘brown field’ first if not entirely."

"We must seriously try not to keep building on Greenfield sites especially in old English villages of character and beauty."

"Wedmore needs to encourage young graduates back to the village. Difficult with house prices so high."

"Rebuilding could be achieved by ‘infilling’ without increasing the general perimeter."

"Some of the houses built in recent years are on plots far too small for the size of the houses – e.g. those in Orchard Close."

"Whilst wanting cheaper housing for local people, they should not be allowed to sell at inflated rates."

"Where some development takes place these plots of land should be kept larger than at present – too many houses allowed per acre at present."

"Another subject that my family are extremely opposed to is extending the village boundaries. Wedmore is a village and should remain as such. It seems to me that any housing projects that are undertaken at the moment are for higher priced housing, the conversion of Elmsett Hall to executive apartments is a prime example. Housing that local people and first time buyers cannot afford. It does not seem right that local people should have to leave the village because they can’t afford accommodation here. Also, local amenities cannot support a larger population. To get to see a dentist or a doctor in the village is a complete nightmare. A new school was built over 10 years ago as the existing school was not big enough. That problem seems to have occurred again. The answer would be to stop building houses so that the population of the area stays the same. Therefore, the schools/doctors/dentists would always be able to support the community that it aims to serve. It’s all well and good building bigger and better schools etc. but the local population needs to be kept constant so that you don’t end up with the same recurring problem of the amenities not being able to support the community."

(iii) But, do young people always want to stay here?

Although their parents may protest loudly that there is no suitable housing in the village for their children to move into, there is strong evidence in this survey that many of today’s teenagers do not expect or want to remain in the village when they have finished school/college and go on to work. This is partly due to the dire state of farming, leading many farmers to advise their children not to follow them into the industry, and the ever-increasing proportion of 18 year-olds (now 40%) who go to college or university when they finish school, and so widen their horizons and their career ambitions.

From the teenagers’ focus groups:

Did they see themselves as staying on in Wedmore after they had finished their education and were working? Unanimously, they would not. Mainly because they wanted to move somewhere where there were "things to do".

"I think in your early twenties, when you’re deciding what to do, you’re drawn to the big cities, because that’s where everything is" (16 yr old).

"People think London is too scary, but it’s not, it’s brilliant" (12 yr old, farming family, lived here for generations)

"I would never consider pursuing a career in Wedmore. I’d set my sights much higher than that" (15 yr old)

"I think it would be a good place to bring up a family. But not before that" (15 yr old.)

"It’s a retirement place, isn’t it? for old people" (13 yr old)

There is a sense in which they are marking time until the current phase of their lives is past, during which time they want the right facilities to provide them with a good social life and the opportunity to be outward-looking and, unlike older people in Wedmore, not "insular". And, when the next phase begins, on reaching their twenties, they will leave. Some may come back to bring up a family, but that is unpredictable. The prospect of being able to pursue a career and find an affordable house in Wedmore simply did not cross any of their minds.

And, from the farmers’ focus group:

"Years ago a farmer’s greatest wish would be to pass their farm on to their son. Nowadays they don’t want their sons to go anywhere near it"

"My son has come back to farming and I wish he hadn’t"

This feeling was unanimous. However, at least the next generation of farmers go into it with their eyes open.

"They have grown up with the paperwork. It was different in my day. All this is new"

However, the farming lifestyle may have lost its appeal.

"I think a lot of kids aren’t interested in farming nowadays. They go away to university and come back and think they don’t want to work those kind of hours on a farm"

"You can’t afford the time to do other things. I don’t suppose there is a farmer out there who has got a hobby"

APPENDIX: Age Breakdown of Isle of Wedmore and Sedgemoor Population Sub-groups. Projections to Year 2011

(Assumption: Projected growth rates of Wedmore Population reflect those of Sedgemoor)

Sources: Office of National Statistics; Somerset County Council; Isle of Wedmore Community Appraisal; Wedmore First School; Hugh Sexey Middle School.

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