RESIDENTS at Rosedale Abbey, one of Ryedale's best known tourist honey-pots, are carrying out an in-depth study into the life of its community.

Among the concerns of residents is the low number of young people who are living in the picturesque dale and the lack of public transport.

The response to the parish plan for Rosedale and Hartoft has been excellent, says parish council clerk John Sugden.

The parish authority has made a bid for just under £2,000 to carry out the probe, which will explore a wide range of issues in Rosedale.

The local council has provided some of the funding, while other money has come from events in the village, with the biggest slice of the cash hopefully coming from the Countryside Agency.

Mr Sugden said a drop-in session had been held at the village school when a catalogue of ideas had been put forward, and there had been several hundred responses from residents.

"We are working on an issues paper," said Mr Sugden, who added that a steering committee was set up to mastermind the plan with the parish council.

"We are going to follow it up with a questionnaire and have focus groups involving such groups as the Women's Institute and local school."

One of the main concerns is that people brought up in the dale are not able to stay there because of the high cost of property and the fact that a third of houses in Rosedale are either second homes or holiday homes.

And, says Mr Sugden, while there is a high rate of car ownership, through necessity, the public transport of just two taxi-buses a week is a problem.

Of Rosedale's population, only 8pc are aged between 18 and 29, compared with the national average of 18pc, due to the housing situation and lack of employment.

"There is a feeling of isolation in Rosedale," said Mr Sugden.

Now the parish council is hoping that once all the information gleaned from the residents is compiled into the new parish plan, that action can be taken to help rectify the situation.

The next meeting of the parish council is to be held on November 27 at the reading room.

Updated: 12:48 Wednesday, November 19, 2003