Coffee & Cake Afternoon

In November 2024 the Steering Committee arranged a public meeting in Hatfield Broad Oak Village Hall to update the residents on the progress of making the Neighbourhood Plan and, where possible, provide answers to any questions raised, Details of our proposed Visions and Objectives and Core Policies were exhibited together with a copy of our Project Plan. We also provided results of the SWOT analysis taken at the Flower Festival earlier in the year.

Community Survey

In the spring of 2024, the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Committee produced a questionnaire for residents of the parish. The aim of the questionnaire was to identify priorities and resident’s issues in relation to such topics as future development, transport, infrastructure, business, services, environment, community and communication.

The survey was delivered to every household, and the response rate was 39%.

In regard to future development, the priority for residents was protecting the landscape surrounding the parish and preserving the historic nature of the village.

Exhibition at the Spring Bank Holiday Flower Festival, 2024

Every spring bank holiday there is a flower festival in the grounds of St Mary's church followed by a 10k race and this year the NP Steering Committee were invited to hold an exhibition during the weekend.

On the Saturday the festival is predominately local people and during the day we estimate we had between 150 to 200 visitors. Some of the Committee were always present during the day to explain our intentions and answer any questions about the making of the Plan.

On the bank holiday Monday there was a 10k road race and this attracted  some 2000 to 3000 visitors to the village. Although most of the visitors may not have lived in our parish, many of them did show an interest in our work and some provided feedback.

Housing Needs Survey

In March 2022 the Rural Council Community for Essex (RCCE) undertook a Housing Needs Survey in the Village. Their report was published in August 2022.

The housing Needs Survey demonstrated that there was a need for sixteen rented properties to be delivered by a Housing Association.  They recommended that the sixteen properties should  consist of: eleven one bed, three two bed and two three bed homes. One of the one bed proporties should be located on the ground floor.