Category: Neighbourhood Plan

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Neighbourhood Planning Progress Update

Logo of the West Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan project

Neighbourhood Planning Workshop

On 19th February the NP Steering Group held an open evening at which 30 people were in attendance.  The aim was to draw together all the work to date including the results of the household  surveys.  The workshop posed the question:

what are the immediate next steps for the project?

To help answer this question delegates were split into three groups as follows:

  • West Bergholt Today:  led by Andrew Savage – Output:  Evidence Base for Neighbourhood Plan – Feb 2014
    • What do we know about our community?
    • Where might we get factual information?
    • How might we use this information?
    • How might we document our findings?
  • Our Environment:  led by Brian Butcher – Output:  Environment discussions for Neighbourhood Plan – Feb 2014
    • What do we want to protect and enhance?
    • Thinking about both built and natural environments
    • Local policies needed to achieve this
  • West Bergholt Tomorrow:  led by John Gilli-Ross – Output:  Future Options discussed for Neighbourhood Plan – Feb 2014
    • Change is inevitable but how can we plan for this?
    • What is the survey telling us?
    • Consider how we might approach housing and employment aspects of change
    • What about other land use changes for sport, open space?
    • How are we going to draw up scenarios and ideas for the community to look at?
    • What are the ways of engaging communities on development and change?

The discussions produced a wide range of ideas and the three groups have agreed to continue to meet up to take forward priority items. Their notes are attached as is the Agenda and Slide Presentation. If anyone who missed out would like to get involved please don’t hesitate to contact either the Chairman Chris Stevenson or the publicity officer Murray Harlow – see contact details.

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Local Business? Neighbourhood Plan Team needs input

Logo of the West Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan project
Our village & parish life in our hands

Local Business Survey

If you run a local business we need your help to shape the future of West Bergholt. Please take a few minutes to complete a questionnaire by clicking on:

Your response will be invaluable to assisting the production of a Neighbourhood Plan for our village and wider parish area.  Neighbourhood Plans are fairly new and you may not have heard of them yet.  They form part of Neighbourhood Planning which is a Government initiative which enables local communities to produce Development plans for their areas rather than for these to be produced by District Councils, in our case Colchester Borough Council.

So what exactly is Neighbourhood Planning?

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 surrounding Parish area.

The plan will be used to decide the future of the 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 must be made and agreed by you.

Who is responsible for preparing the plan?

The Plan is sponsored by the Parish Council but the steering group overseeing the plan is drawn from the wider community and comprises 20 people drawn from all walks of life. A full listing of FAQs has been assembled on the village website, look for the Neighbourhood Plan tab.

In order to inform the NP a series of surveys is being conducted. We have already conducted a household community survey and a survey of younger people’s views is under way. However we recognise that the village and wider parish area has a large number of businesses and we are keen to get a view of your needs and concerns so that we can plan not just for community needs such as housing and amenities, but also the needs of businesses.

Please complete the on-line questionnaire by the end of February 2014.  If you need to find out more please contact any of the following:

Contacts: Paul Downer ([antibot mailto=”[email protected]”]) Chris Stevenson ([antibot mailto=”[email protected]”]) Murray Harlow ([antibot mailto=”[email protected]”])

Supporting Local BusinessesWe look forward to reading your responses.

Are you listed on our Local Businesses Page – contact Murray Harlow (see above) if not?

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Traffic Safety Plan news update

Traffic Safety Plan - Appendix 2a
Overview of measures (click to enlarge)

At a special meeting of the Parish Council held on 6th November, the traffic safety plan designed to help alleviate some of the traffic problems in and around New Church Road, particularly around school times, was approved.

In brief the plan is to put restrictions on parking at the junctions along New Church Road, including the end junctions where inconsiderate parking can cause dangers at any time.  Part of the plan is to raise awareness of the need to take extra care in the vicinity of a school and to achieve this the Parish Council will seek the imposition of a 20mph limit along the road.   Also the part the school can play in influencing drivers’ behaviour was discussed and so it is hoped that working with the Parish Council and local residents a campaign to impact on the problem will be launched as the above measures are put into place.

The full plan is now published on the village web site, also available with the plan is a summary of the way it has been developed and the consultations that have taken place, particularly with local residents.  Links to these are posted below:

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Great responses to neighbourhood survey

Logo of the West Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan project
Our village & parish life in our hands

The neighbourhood survey has resulted in around 450 replies representing around a third of all households!  The Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group have issued the following update:

A Big “Thank you” to all who completed the:

Neighbourhood Plan Questionnaire

The West Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan Questionnaire which appeared in June’s Bulletin has been enthusiastically supported by residents in the village and wider parish area. Around 450 replies were received with a third being filled in on line via the link in the West Bergholt Website.

A big THANK YOU to all who filled it in; this represents about a third of all households who receive the Bulletin and means that the survey will be a representative sample of the community’s views. A big THANK YOU also to Ash’s, the doctor’s surgery and the Co-op for their willingness to have the collection boxes. The draws for the hamper and the voucher for the youngsters will be made shortly.

All the written comments have been read, and we will endeavour to incorporate them in our final analysis. That will now take place over the next few weeks with the Steering Group members busily collating and reading all responses. Without wanting to give too much away: traffic issues topped the list of concerns as it did with the previous Parish Plan survey.

The area of the Neighbourhood Plan has now also been ratified by the Borough Council. Following the end of the consultation on this matter and a recent Planning Committee, our plan area is now confirmed as corresponding to the existing Parish boundary.

We will keep you informed of the outcome of the questionnaire analysis via future Bulletins but the survey results are likely to be published initially on www.westbergholt.net. We will also endeavour to contact those that showed an interest in joining the Steering Group – but why not check the notice boards and come along to the next advertised meeting.

As ever please feel free to contact Chris Stevenson ([antibot mailto=”[email protected]”] or 01206 241708) or Murray Harlow ([antibot mailto=”[email protected]”] or 01206 240792) on any aspect of the plan and its preparation.

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Village Traffic Safety Plan

traffic safety plan for West Bergholt
Overview of part of the new plans – see below for full size copies

In response to issues raised by village residents in the Parish Plan of 2009 the Parish Council spent nearly two years consulting various parties before producing last year a Traffic Safety Plan for the village.   The plan was endorsed by the Local Highways Panel and formed the basis for the funding for the projects under current consideration.

Early indications from the comments on the returned questionnaires from the whole village for the present Neighbourhood Plan are that the most pressing concerns of residents continue to centre on traffic issues, and in particular speeding and parking.  The particular dangers are perceived to be in the areas leading up to the school and the Co-op, both of which provide vital services to the village. Clearly many would support actions to address these dangers.

The Parish Council is now actively pursuing the implementation of this Traffic Safety Plan and is engaged with Essex County Council (ECC) engineers in drawing up plans for safety works in New Church Road.  These will inevitably involve some restrictions on the speed of traffic and parking.  The Council is committed to ensuring that the measures have a positive impact by meeting the aims of the plan whilst at the same time considering the views of village residents.  The intention is to create an environment where parents of older pupils at the school feel safe in allowing their children to walk, or even to cycle, to school unaccompanied thus removing the need to use their car.  This clearly does not exist at the moment and to do nothing will not improve safety.

Set out below are the proposed measures for adoption recommended by the Parish Council.  Any suggestions for changes will be considered before a final version is submitted to ECC Highways for the portfolio holder’s approval.  Once obtained formal notices of the works to be carried out will be published by ECC.

  1. No parking double yellow lines for 15m (the statutory length) at each junction with New Church Road.  This will enable enforcement to be carried out by the relevant authorities.
  2. A low level rectangular table at each end of New Church Road.  The aim is to check driver speeds and raise awareness of potential pedestrian presence ahead.  It is likely that low level lighting will be needed at these points – no specific plans are currently available.
  3. Time restricted parking (single yellow line) for about 20m spanning the footpath from Mumford Close into New Church Road together with minor works to improve the crossing point. This is considered essential at school journey times to give children a clear view down the road.
  4. Time restricted parking from the zig zags for 20m towards Lexden Road.  Designed to give a clear view around the dangerous bend in the road.
  5. Improved signage at the junctions of New Church Road with Chapel Road and  Lexden Road and of School Lane with Colchester Road.

A composite plan and detailed plans for each of these works are shown below.

In addition to these measures the Parish Council is considering making an application for a 20mph speed limit in New Church Road and School Lane. This application is more likely to succeed if the above measures are implemented first.  Please send your comments on the recommendation and the introduction of a 20mph speed limit to the Parish Clerk – Mrs Val Walsom, 17 Armoury Road, or preferably by email to [email protected].

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Online survey deadline extended

Logo of the West Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan project
Our village & parish life in our hands
Click to complete survey.

The Parish Council would like to thank everybody who has already completed the village survey, in particular the online survey; so far they have received in excess of 450 responses.

With these responses crucial to the future of the village, however, the Parish Council, and in particular, the Neighbourhood Plan Group, are keen to get more responses and so the deadline has been extended until 10th August for online survey responses, so if you still want to complete the on-line survey you still have a chance.

Have your say in the future of the village!!!!

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Neighbourhood survey on track, one last push needed

Logo of the West Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan project
Our village & parish life in our hands
Click logo to complete survey.

The Neighbourhood Plan survey has drawn in an encouraging 300 responses to date, many of these online using the electronic survey.  The Steering Group have a target of 500 responses in mind as this would represent about a third of all households.  With this in mind the survey period has been extended to 19th July.

So if you haven’t responded yet, or if there are others in your household you could encourage to respond, please take the 10 minutes needed to complete the questionnaire ideally on line!  If you prefer to respond on paper then remember the questionnaire was included as an insert in June’s Village Bulletin.  If you need extra copies of the survey, the paper copy is also available to download here – WB HH Questionnaire ver 15.

Extra prize draw for under-18 survey respondents

Remember you can enter our prize draw with a chance to win a Co-op hamper!  As an added incentive for younger members of the community to respond, we are creating a second prize of a £20 Amazon gift voucher available for respondents aged under 18.

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Online survey launched by Neighbourhood Plan group

Logo of the West Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan project & link to survey
Our village & parish life in our hands
Click to complete survey.

The Neighbourhood Plan is in its formative stages.  A Steering group has been formed to produce the plan, and the area to be covered by the plan has been determined.  A preliminary workshop has been undertaken with members of the community and from all the information assembled to date a community questionnaire/survey has been produced.

Please complete the survey.

We now need you, the members of our community, to let us have your views on a range of topics by completing our online survey (click the link).   The survey will take you just 10-15mins to complete, and any members of your household can participate.  Your views really will help us to determine how the village and wider parish area should change over the coming years and what improvements the community see as being important to pursue.

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

So don’t stand back, come forward, complete the questionnaire and be a promoter and guardian of West Bergholt, and share in and shape our vision for the future. Completed surveys are eligible for entry into a prize draw with a chance to win a food hamper courtesy of the Co-op.

Contacts

Chris Stevenson ([antibot mailto=”[email protected]”]) or Murray Harlow ([antibot mailto=”[email protected]”])

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West Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan area unveiled – CBC Consultation

Logo of the West Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan project
Logo of the West Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan project

In preparations for starting a Neighbourhood Plan the area defined by the plan has to be the subject of an application to Colchester Borough Council by the Parish Council. Following the village workshop last November the area was agreed as being coincident with the Parish Council boundary, and an application has been submitted by the Parish Council. In turn the Borough Council sets this out in a wider 6 week consultation which can be viewed on the Colchester Borough Council website here.  If you wish to do so, you have until 20th June to respond to this consultation.

The general survey of residents of the village & parish takes place in June via these web pages and the Village Bulletin. Look out for the questionnaire and make sure you have your say.

STOP PRESS:

The Neighbourhood Plan Survey is now live online until the end of June on this website.

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