RURAL AREAS

Mara

Background

Mara Ward lies on the western edge of Vale Royal and contains the villages of Delamere and Utkinton. It contains 2402 hectares. The ward is rural with the population concentrated in the two villages. (See Map)

Mara gas frequent and regular bus services and the nearest railway station is Delamere. The nearest shopping facilities are in Tarporley. There are three primary schools and a mobile library service.

Facts and Figures

Population & % of Vale Royal

Number of households & % of VR

Population under 16 years

Population 16 to 64 years

Population 65 years and over

Average Age

1679

(1.4%)

719

(1.4%)

279

(16.6%)

1049

(2.5%)

351

(20.9%)

44 years

In 2001 there were 719 households of which 79% were owner-occupied and social housing accounted for a further 9.3%.

At the time of the 2001 Census, of those aged between 16 and 74 years 61.7% were economically active which is just below the rate for Vale Royal (62.8%) and above that for England and Wales (60.6%). The unemployed accounted for only 2% of whom 36% were aged over 50, 12% had never worked and 16% were long-term unemployed. Those otherwise economically inactive formed 14.3% of the population in the same age range. Retired people represent 22.1?% of the age group.

Mara is a single unit for the purpose of measuring social and economic disadvantage. According to the Government’s Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004, this Ward does not show any significant levels of deprivation.

Crime

Year	Burglary Dwelling	Other Burglary	Vehicle Crime	Other Theft	Criminal Damage	Violent Crime	Other Crimes	Total
2006/07 (½ year)	2	4	33	18	19	3	6	85
2005/06	7	12	61	27	18	7	10	142
2004/05	1	20	39	20	10	0	11	110
2003/04	7	14	35	19	5	6	2	88

Note: Figures in brackets are for offences per 1000 population.

Disorder

In 2005/06 new categories of Anti-social behaviour were used by the police making it difficult to compare previous years. During the past year the following incidents were recorded by the police.

	Street Drinking	Vehicle Nuisance	Abandoned Vehicles	Noise - Pubs/Clubs	Environmental Litter, graffiti, etc.	Nuisance in public place	Rowdy/ drunken behaviour	Other	Total
2006/07 (1st qtr)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0
2005/06	0	4	12	0	0	5	2	8	31

The figures for previous years were as follows:

			Disturbance in
Year	Nuisance Youths	General Disorder	Public place	Private place	Licensed premises	Noise nuisance	*Domestic Incident*	Total
2004/05	7	17	1	2	1	0	2	33
2003/04	11	0	2	2	0	1	3	30
2002/03	5	1	2	3	0	1	4	32
2001/02	6			2	0	0	3	31

For the year 2001 – 02 ‘Nuisance Youths’ was not a separate category but were contained within ‘Disturbance in a public place.

Of the other forms of disturbance not listed in the table are telephone nuisance of either an abandoned call, hoax or threatening/abusive nature and minor /other nuisance issues including neighbour disputes. The totals include these matters.