Designing Haddenham's Future

Over fifty residents turned out at the Community Infant School on Saturday 27th September, to help the Neighbourhood Plan team define a set of criteria by which the suitability of land surrounding Haddenham can be assessed for development.

Their conclusions will be written up and used as a checklist to rate each potential development site and provide an objective basis upon which the Parish Council can respond to planning applications in the future.

The meeting generated lots of excellent ideas and highlighted a strong desire among attendees to retain and enhance the village feel of Haddenham.

The mix of people attending the meeting was broad, from new arrivals to those who have lived in Haddenham for many years. The different age groups were also well represented.

The Neighbourhood Plan team is the final stages of writing the draft plan, based largely on data derived from the various public consultation events that have been conducted in Haddenham over recent months. Also factored in will be input from specialist consultants concerning the impact of potential developments on the historic and natural environment, as well as an assessment of local housing demand.

The NP team hopes to be able to present a near-final draft of the plan for further public consultation by the end of November.

Photographs courtesy of Kim Biddulph

Top Image: Neighbourhood Plan chairman Andrew Fell introducing the day to residents ready to discuss themes such as transport, the environment and community facilities.

Image 2: Residents reviewing the themes and ranking them by importance.

Image 3: Detail of the comments and votes on the heritage theme.