Make Your Voice Heard-Get Involved With The Neighbourhood Plan

Significant strong support was expressed for a Neighbourhood Development Plan to allow the Parish Council, at its December meeting, to decide to go ahead with the proposal.

At a well attended open meeting, held in the Village Hall in November, approximately 90 villagers were present, many of whom completed a questionnaire after the meeting. Results from the questionnaires identified that there was no opposition to the idea, with 29 residents immediately offering to help with the Plan's formulation. Everyone who filled in the questionnaire was willing to make a monetary contribution.

Producing the Plan will be complex and detailed-a huge task, you could say-therefore the more villagers that can be involved and help, the better and more effective can be that Plan.

To begin the process of developing the Plan, there are now two further meetings scheduled, the dates for which are given immediately below.

Wednesday, January 28th at 7 p.m. in the Village Hall

Friday, January 30th at 12.30 p.m. in the Village Hall (lounge area)

Both these meetings will be identical, there is no requirement to attend both.

The meetings will be exploratory, explaining what volunteering may involve, looking at the possible structure of any steering groups or sub-groups, as well as providing updates on progress so far. The meetings will also discuss terms of reference and a project plan, which, once agreed, will become governing documents.

At its December meeting, the Council also decided to increase the parish precept to help cover the immediate, initial cost of preparing the Plan. It also decided to appoint the specialist, David Gluck, who spoke in length at the November meeting about the critical importance of a Neighbourhood Plan. He can, and will, provide well proven, expert help. An example of a Neighbourhood Plan in which David was involved can be found by clicking here.

Very shortly after the November meeting, the Village heard the disappointing news that planning permission had been given for the 58 home Avant Housing development off Moor Road. This was despite all the many objections that had been raised, including pinpointing very major issues with the ability of the sewerage system to cope with any more building projects, concerns which have been serious enough to have been raised in Parliament by our M.P., Sir Alec Shelbrooke. At that meeting, Councillor Andy Brown, vice-chair of the Planning Committee, said that the committee had no choice but to approve the scheme, which was within the village's development limit and on land allocated for housing. He felt that the Committee no longer had the power to represent the people who had elected its members, adding “We are driven by rules above us and if the site meets those rules, we have no choice other than to pass it”.

This adds even more force and relevance to the vital importance of a Neighbourhood Plan which will make local voices well and truly heard. As many villagers as possible need to get involved. A Neighbourhood Plan will be written by those who know their “neighbourhood” best-the people who live there. It will be a weighty document containing far more specific local depth that any county plan ever could and will show that parishioners care deeply about their immediate locality and want to be actively involved in its future for the next five to 20 years.

The Plan will be detailed and technical but must fit in with the local Plan for North Yorkshire. Once drawn up, it will be referred to a Community Referendum, where the majority of votes cast must be in favour. The Local Planning Authority, which funds the referendum itself, is then compelled to approve the plan, which will be a legally recognised document which has to be taken into account for future planning issues.

The importance of a Neighbourhood Plan cannot be over-stated and if you wish to volunteer and get involved, but have not yet indicted your willingness to do so, then put the dates in your diary and go along to one of the meetings. If you are unable to attend, but wish to have a say then please telephone Phil Goodier, Lead of the Neighbourhood Planning Working Group of the Parish Council, who can be contacted on 07789 984893.