Neighbourhood Plan – Update, July 2019
Work on the
Neighbourhood Plan (NP) has been progressing at a more rapid pace recently,
with the steering group members working to specific targets set by consultant,
Michael Wellock. Much of this work is very detailed, gathering and evaluating
information and photographs to inform Policies and to provide evidence for the
appendices. Meanwhile the consultant is busy turning our work into the
substance of the Plan itself.
An example of
the work that the steering group has been undertaking is in the assessment of
every property in the three villages – some 720 in all – in terms of history,
architecture, materials, environment, landscape features; also the types of
housing in each village, the way the villages have evolved and what kind of
features and characteristics should inform a Policy on Design. This is not the
simplest of tasks, as our villages are not typical of bijou or boutique single
style villages. Our villages have evolved in a functional way, with housing
taking place in the form of small housing estates, council housing as well as
infill and small clusters of generically similar buildings. In short, we have
many styles – some fine Grade II listed buildings and some handsome modern
buildings.
Our analysis
has revealed many differences – as well as similarities – between the villages,
and these have been captured in maps, charts and photographic evidence. This
has been one aspect of our work, but a significant one, in that our derived
polices on Design will determine the nature of any future developments in the
parish.
We have also
being doing research into environmental aspects of the parish, including
biodiversity, archaeology, important aspects of landscape, green spaces,
village separation, wildlife and features such as ridge-and-furrow fields – as
well as significant non-listed buildings and features.
You may be
wondering why no mention has been made of Preston Deanery and Wootton St
George’s Fields. This is because Preston Deanery is described as a ‘hamlet’ and
lies in ‘open countryside’; as such it is protected by South Northants Council
Local Plan Part 2 policies. Wootton St George’s Fields, while part of Hackleton
Parish, comes under the Northampton Related Development Area (NRDA) and is not
included in our Plan. (This situation will change, of course, when SNC and
Northampton Borough Council become a Unitary Council, with Daventry District
Council.)
I would like to point out that the steering group – and the Parish Council as a whole – is very much committed to the well being of all people in the parish, and the Plan will reflect this. We hope that the delivery of the new Parish Mag to every household in the parish is a demonstration of that commitment.
We hope to
produce a draft plan for consultation in the near future, more than three years
after the decision to embark on the Plan.
Roy Hawkesford
Hackleton Parish Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group