This month has been largely a preparation for receiving the Housing Needs and Sites Assessments. We hope to get both reports before the next Neighbourhood Plan meeting, which will give us something ‘concrete’ to work on. It is good practice to offer more sites than might be needed for the number of houses required, so that we can’t be seen to be uncooperative.
While the results of these assessments is not mandatory, clearly it would not make sense to dismiss the findings. Once we have had the opportunity to digest the information, we will contact landowners and/or agents to ascertain the availability of the sites. Following that, we will hold a public meeting where the plans will be available for public scrutiny and comment. We won’t be doing anything as wide-ranging as on June 2nd, though we will be prepared and will try to answer questions on any aspects of the Plan. We will take advantage of the Forum to publicise the public meeting, but we probably won’t leaflet every house – we assume that Forum, posters in the village and word-of-mouth will attract people.
While St George’s Field will not form part of the Plan, because it is part of the NRDA, we can nevertheless look at green spaces, general character and issues that affect wellbeing there. One of the steering group, Gary, who lives there, will hopefully undertake a survey for us that we can include in the Plan. I have written to three residents in Preston Deanery asking if they would be prepared to be involved in certain aspects of the Plan that relate to them, but, as yet, I have received no replies.
In the meantime, Maz has done some excellent work by preparing an action plan for providing evidence for the Plan and the tasks we need to do to ensure that the Plan reflects our parish and its constituent villages. We will be making general statements that relate to the whole parish and also statements about each individual village. For instance, we will examine the different kinds of building in each village, the purpose of which is to form a design statement that will advise all new buildings. We are also in the process of establishing views, which is a key part of the Plan as it determines what we would like conserve for the character of the villages and parish. This might not sound much, but it is an intensive task and one that aims to preserve local character.
We keenly await the Assessments, as they will determine how we proceed and will really take us to the next level of activity. Things will then move more quickly, we will have a definite focus, and all the elements will start to coalesce. Challenging but exciting times ahead!
Cllr Roy Hawkesford
