About Neighbourhood Plan

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Neighbourhood Plan

Welcome! The information on these pages introduces you to the world of Neighbourhood Planning and the proposals for producing a Neighbourhood Plan for West Bergholt.

 

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The Neighbourhood Plan for our Parish is now fully developed and its fast on its way to becoming a statutory planning document which will determine the pace and extent of further development proposals in our area. The Community-based Steering group with support from West Bergholt Parish Council and Colchester Borough Council has now undertaken the following pieces of work:

  • Established the area for the neighbourhood plan to cover which coincides with the parish boundary.
  • Conducted surveys to gauge general interest in developing a NP with a range of people from residents and businesses through to young people at Heathlands School and older students at a range of secondary schools and at the sixth form college.
  • Undertaken workshops with the community to understand the priorities needed for the future of our village and parish
  • Obtained funding to support detailed aspects of the plan.
  • Produced a preliminary evidence base which will be vital in establishing the areas that the community wants the plan to focus upon.
  • Held a two month consultation exercise aimed at confirming the issues and options that will be the mainstay of the plan. See here for details of this consultation and how to take part.
  • Held two consultations on the draft plan including the Regulation 14 consultation which revealed the preferred locations for new housing.
  • Submitted the final plan for independent examination and ultimately a referendum.

So what exactly is Neighbourhood Planning?

Neighbourhood Plans are relatively new so you may not have heard of them yet.  Neighbourhood Planning is a new right for communities to create agreed policies and proposals for their localities.  For us, this will be for West Bergholt and the surrounding Parish area.

We will use the plan to decide the future development of West Bergholt including answering the following:

  • Where should new houses, shops or employment areas be built?
  • Should they be built?
  • Do we want further community assets and amenities?
  • Should we preserve existing open spaces and provide more?
  • Aside from development aspects what other improvements do you want to see in areas such as traffic, policing, environmental improvements etc?

The list could be endless – but is nevertheless of vital importance and we must make and agree the plan with you.

Why should we consider producing a Neighbourhood Plan?

The localism agenda is developing quickly and communities need to respond to the opportunities that exist following recent legislation.  Elsewhere on these pages is a a commentary on the benefits of producing a plan for our community.

Who is responsible for preparing the plan?

The Parish Council sponsors the Plan, but a Steering Group oversees the plan and comprises members of the wider community with over 20 people drawn from all walks of life.

The Steering Group is a voluntary but constituted body which met monthly in its early stages although at the present time only meets when the statutory planning process demands it.  The Steering Group is held in public normally in the John Lampon Hall on the first Wednesday of the month at 7.30pm.

The Neighbourhood Plan Area.

Following application to the Borough Council and a consultation period during the summer,  the Neighbourhood Plan Area corresponds to the Parish area of West Bergholt.

If you would like to find out more, then visit these pages on this website:

Contact us to find out more!

The more people who get involved, the better so if you want to find out more, then email or call either me, the secretary or the communications officer at the contact points below. We would love to hear from you. For the present, the Steering Group is awaiting the outcome of Regulation 16 consultations by Colchester Borough Council before it meets again.

Contacts

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