After two years of local consultations and workshops, the first draft of the Haddenham Neighbourhood Plan will be published on Saturday 6th December 2014. The Plan sets the policies for future development in the village and priorities for the Parish Council for the next 20 years.
But, to get the Plan "made" we have a few final hurdles; after a six-week public consultation (starting on the 6th Dec), the Plan will be submitted to AVDC. They conduct their own consultations before the Plan is subjected to independent inspection and referendum.
At the referendum, over half of the votes have to support the Plan for it to be "made" after which, it will be part of the statutory development plan for the area; as such, AVDC will have to consider it as part of planning decisions. Before then, it gains increasing statutory weight as it moves through the process from submission – indeed the Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, has recently overturned planning decisions as they were contrary to an emerging Neighbourhood Plan.
Our Plan will include site allocations for where and how many new homes residents want in the village, as well as direction on schools, businesses, sports and leisure, transport and health and wellbeing in the village.
Q: But hasn't a planning application already been submitted for one of the potential development sites?
A: It has. The Church Commissioners and a commercial developer have submitted an outline application for land on the corner of Aston and Stanbridge Roads. This aims to pre-empt the Neighbourhood Plan and offer satisfaction of much of the future need of the village on one site. This is contrary to the consultation findings of the NP and, consequently, the application has been accompanied by a significant number of objections from residents and the Parish Council on both material planning considerations and on the application being premature.
Nevertheless, if AVDC choose to support the application, it would supplant much of the objective assessment made by the Neighbourhood Plan team; if AVDC defer the application until after the Plan is made, the application will benefit from amendment to reflect the Neighbourhood Plan.
Q: What about the other sites?
A: If AVDC are minded to proceed with the Aston Road application, the owners and developers of the Airfield and Dollicott sites, who are currently working with the Neighbourhood Plan timetable, may wish to submit their applications so that all 3 sites are considered equally.
Q: What can I do?
A: Have your say! The launch of the Neighbourhood Plan will be held in the Walter Rose Room of the Village Hall 10am – 4pm on Saturday 6th December 2014. Come and collect a copy of the plan, talk to the team that has been researching, consulting with the village and writing it, and comment on the content of the plan. This starts the statutory six-week consultation process that will end in January when the plan is submitted to AVDC.
If you can't make it on 6th, you will still get the chance to have your say as an Executive Summary of the plan will be posted through every door in the village.
If you have any questions on the Neighbourhood Plan, contact Andy Fell on 290166 or Andrew.fell81@btinternet.com, Kim Biddulph on kimbiddulph@btinternet.com or write to the Neighbourhood Plan team at the Parish Office.
