Uttoxeter Neighbourhood Plan

Uttoxeter Neighbourhood Plan

Uttoxeter Neighbourhood Plan has been ‘made’ by East Staffordshire Borough Council on 9 March 2017 via an Executive Decision. 

The Decision Statement, Neighbourhood Referendum result, Final made Uttoxeter Neighbourhood Plan and other documentation relating to the Uttoxeter Neighbourhood Plan can be viewed on ESBC’s website http://www.eaststaffsbc.gov.uk/planning/planning-policy/neighbourhood-plans/uttoxeter

 

 

Title: THE NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN FOR UTTOXETER

Date:  22^nd February 2016

Contact:  JOSEPHINE SAMUELS (01625 26 52 32/  jo.samuels@bpud.co.uk)

For immediate release:

THE DRAFT NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN AND HOUSING EXPLAINED

The Uttoxeter Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group would like to offer clarification on the relationship between the draft Neighbourhood Plan and sites allocated for housing in and around the town.

There have been some concerns that the Neighbourhood Plan is supporting or even proposing new housing development within the town. This is not the case. The following bullet points set out the relationship between the Neighbourhood Plan and housing allocations;

1. The Neighbourhood Plan is required by national regulation to be in ‘general conformity’ with the strategic policies of the East Staffordshire Local Plan which was adopted in 2015. In practise means that Neighbourhood Plans must comply with land allocations made within the Local Plan, including sites allocated for housing and employment uses (this includes Land West of Uttoxeter, employment land to the east of Uttoxeter and smaller allocations for housing to the south of the town).

2. Once a Neighbourhood Plan has been written and adopted, East Staffordshire Borough Council are required to consider the policies in the plan when deciding on planning applications for new development in Uttoxeter Town Parish (the area covered by the Neighbourhood Plan), alongside the East Staffordshire Local Plan 2015.

3. The Neighbourhood Plan can not alter housing allocations within the East Staffordshire Local Plan 2015 but does have the power to introduce new allocations.  The Town Council and Steering Group are however, clear that they consider further allocations are unnecessary.

4. The Neighbourhood Plan can however, shape how housing is delivered on those sites through planning policies on architectural design, density, mix and type of houses provided. Policies have been drafted accordingly.

5.The Neighbourhood Plan can also seek financial contributions from these schemes in order to implement any highways or infrastructure work needed as a result of development.

6. The Steering Group remains committed to using the Neighbourhood Plan to make the planning system more accessible to the local community. They want to ensure   residents and local business owners are fully informed of what is planned for the area and how they can contribute to how planning decisions are made.

7. For clarity the Steering Group have chosen to include within the Neighbourhood Plan a map which displays all of the sites allocated for development by the Borough Council in addition to sites approved on appeal. This is in order to provide context for the Neighbourhood Plan and its policies and to ensure that residents are fully informed of where and when development might be expected to occur.

8. The map included is for information only. Its aim is to ensure residents are fully informed of the ‘big picture’ for Uttoxeter. It also demonstrates why there is a need for the Neighbourhood Plan as a tool to ensure that the development which does occur is the best it can be for residents. The Neighbourhood Plan is not allocating any sites for housing and does not have the power to change allocations made by East Staffordshire Borough Council.

ENDS.

Notes for Editors:

Uttoxeter Town Council formed a Neighbourhood Plan Steering Committee which has worked with the Cheshire based planning consultancy BPUD Limited in the development of the plan. 

Neighbourhood Plans were introduced by central government in 2010 to give communities direct power to develop a shared vision for their neighbourhood and to shape the development and growth of their local area through the planning system.

For interview requests please contact Jo Samuels, BPUD Limited, 01625 262924,  jo.samuels@bpud.co.uk

 

 

RESIDENTS TO HAVE THEIR SAY ON THE DRAFT UTTOXETER NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN:

The Uttoxeter Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group would like to extend their thanks and gratitude to all local residents and stakeholders who have attended consultation events and provided their feedback on what they feel are the key issues in Uttoxeter that the Plan should tackle.

The group has now produced a first complete draft of the Uttoxeter Neighbourhood Plan. It contains planning policies specifically designed for the town and intended to help achieve the aspirations to make sure that Uttoxeter is the best it can be.

THE SIX WEEK CONSULTATION PERIOD BEGINS ON MONDAY 15^TH FEBRUARY:

The Uttoxeter Draft Neighbourhood Plan will be subject to 6 weeks’ consultation beginning on the 15th February 2016. The consultation period will end at 5pm on 28th March 2016 and any submissions after this time will not be considered.

Respondents may leave comments on any / all of the policies and may do so as part of one submission but each separate comment must be clearly indicated. All comments will be recorded and reported to the Steering Group as part of the ongoing process. All personal information collected as part of this process will be used solely for the Uttoxeter Neighbourhood Plan and will not be sold or passed to third parties beyond the Town Council and the Local Planning Authority.

You can view the draft Neighbourhood Plan and associated documents here on our website. The questionnaire can be completed by accessing this link to Survey Monkey:

 https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/VHCZPW7

You can also download and print the questionnaire from our website to fill in by hand and return to the Town Hall.

Hard copies of the draft Neighbourhood Plan will be available to view at the following locations throughout the consultation period:

– Uttoxeter Town Hall, High Street, ST14 7HN

– Uttoxeter Library, 57 High Street, ST14 7JQ

– Uttoxeter Leisure Centre, Oldfields Rd, ST14 7QL 

HOW TO GIVE YOUR FEEDBACK:

All local residents and business owners are invited to read the draft Neighbourhood Plan and offer their feedback. The group would like residents to have a look at the plan and answer the following questions;

Do you support the Neighbourhood Plan’s aspirations for the town?

Do you agree with the Vision and Objectives set out in the document?

Do you think there are any key issues that have been missed or misinterpreted?

Do you support the suggested policies?

Do you have any further suggestions or comments to make? 

Comments must be received in writing, and include the following information to be considered valid:

•Name, address and contact information.

•Specific reference to the section and / or policy to which the comments relate

BY POST TO: 

c/o BPUD

Floor 2, 16-18 Park Green

Macclesfield

SK11 7NA

BY EMAIL TO:

 neighbourhood.plan@bpud.co.uk

(Please make sure the subject is clearly marked as Uttoxeter Neighbourhood Plan)

CONSULTATION EVENTS:

The Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group will have two stalls (one inside the town hall and one on the high street) at the market on Saturday 27th February between 9am and 2pm. Residents are invited to come and view the draft Neighbourhood Plan, speak to those involved in running the project and offer their feedback on the plan for their town.

To provide as many opportunities to view the draft neighbourhood plan and speak to those leading the project, the Steering Group will be holding two Roadshow events at the Town Hall on the 2nd and 3rd of March between 10am and 3pm.

 

CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO SEE A COPY OF THE DRAFT NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

Uttoxeter_Neighbourhood_Plan_Reg14_CONSULTATION_DRAFT_smallfilesize

 

CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO SEE A COPY OF THE SCREENING OPINION ON: STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF A NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

Uttoxeter_Screening_Opinion_ESBC

 

CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO SEE A COPY OF THE TECHNICAL BASELINE DOCUMENT

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CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO SEE A COPY OF THE UTTOXETER NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN PRESENTATION WITH COMMENTARY

Uttoxeter Neighbourhood Plan Presentation with commentary

 

CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO SEE A COPY OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE

 

Uttoxeter Neighbourhood Plan Questionnaire

 

WHAT’S THE PLAN FOR UTTOXETER?  YOU DECIDE…

The Uttoxeter Neighbourhood Plan is a way for communities to influence the planning system within the area that they live.

Neighbourhood Plans are powerful!  They can shape development and deal with a wide range of social, economic and environmental issues.

They allow local people, to ensure that the types of development that the community want can be delivered!  The finalised form will form part of the statutory planning framework used to determine planning applications in your area, truly devolving power to the community level! 

INTERESTED IN JOINING THE STEERING GROUP?

Want to find out more? 

Please email: plan4uttoxeter@gmail.com

And look out for further details within the website, local noticeboards and local press.

 

Also click on the links below to find out more:

 Uttoxeter Neighbourhood Plan – Emerging Policies Report July 2015

 Uttoxeter Proposals Map

 Frequently Asked Questions

 

THE RESIDENTIAL AND BUSINESS SURVEY REPORTS

The Reports from the Town Council’s Neighbourhood Plan Surveys are now available to view within the ‘Documents’ – ‘News’ section of the website.

SURVEY INFORMATION BELOW:

Uttoxeter – Planning for the future – we need your views!

Uttoxeter is leading the way by being one of the first Town Councils to be chosen to develop its own Neighbourhood Plan.

What is a Neighbourhood Plan?

A Neighbourhood Plan is a community led set of ideas for guiding the future development and growth of an area, including social, economic and environmental issues.

What does a Neighbourhood Plan cover?

Uttoxeter’s Plan will be its community’s aims to improve things such as facilities, housing, employment, heritage, transport, and can include ideas for the use of key sites and focus on issues that people think are particularly important in the area.

What do we have to do to get a Neighbourhood Plan approved?

The first stage of the Neighbourhood Planning process has been completed – the Town is a designated Neighbourhood Area. The plan will ultimately be voted on by residents of Uttoxeter in a referendum; it will then be ‘made’ by East Staffordshire Borough Council and be used alongside the Local Plan to help determine planning applications in the future.

Making the decision to prepare a Neighbourhood Plan

It is a big responsibility to have a Plan. If we have a Plan, it must be used to determine planning applications in the area. The more effort we put in, the more say we are likely to have, but this means making a decision to spend the time and money for a detailed Plan or having a simpler Plan with less influence. Uttoxeter Town Council will need to weigh carefully the opportunities against the time/cost implications and come to a balanced view.

Next steps … completing the Resident and Business surveys
We need to know what you think! We need as many people as possible, who live or work in the parish of Uttoxeter to complete a survey to tell us:

a) Whether Uttoxeter needs a Neighbourhood Plan, and if ‘yes’,
b) What The Neighbourhood Plan priorities and policies are around:

• housing needs
• jobs and the local economy
• protecting our environment
• improving community services
• creating a sustainable community

The survey results will show if existing policies already provide for our resident and business needs, or whether they could be met through other Local Plan avenues*. If neither, we may need a Neighbourhood Plan.

Survey forms are available from the Town Hall, the Library, the Leisure Centre, Schools, Uttoxeter Town Council website together with a link to East Staffordshire Borough Council’s website. The survey will be distributed to all households within Uttoxeter.

Forms can be downloaded from the Town Council’s website www.uttoxetertowncouncil.org.uk

There are two ways of submitting your response to this survey. You may:
Complete the survey on-line at www.uttoxetertowncouncil.org.uk

OR

Return your completed survey to Uttoxeter Town Council, Town Hall, High Street, Uttoxeter, Staffs. ST14 7HN.

The deadline for returning your survey form is 13 December 2013

Survey results will be made available on the Town Council’s website.

*Neighbourhood Development Orders
A Neighbourhood Development Order is a means for a town council to grant planning permission for certain kinds of development within a specified area.

*Community Right to Build Orders
A Community Right to Build Order can be used to grant planning permission for development schemes, e.g. housing.

**It is necessary to gain a more than 50% ‘yes’ vote in a public referendum to bring these plans and orders into force.

 

Neighbourhood Planning Process Diagram

 

Survey – background information and themes

Providing houses

The East Staffordshire Pre-Submission Local Plan, currently out for consultation (18th October – 29th November), identifies the growth requirement for the Borough as 11648 dwellings to be delivered between 2012 and 2031. To deliver this amount of growth the Council “…need to develop brownfield and greenfield allocations in both Burton and Uttoxeter…”

Below is a table of the strategic site allocations for Uttoxeter from the Local Plan, which is an increase on the allocations in the 2012 ‘preferred options’ Local Plan published in July 2012. Updated census data and modelling of employment and population growth over the plan period resulted in the overall housing figure rising from 8935 to 11648. The housing and employment allocations can be found in the table below:

More information on the East Staffordshire pre-Submission Local Plan can be found at:

http://www.eaststaffsbc.gov.uk/PLANNING/PLANNINGPOLICY/Pages/default.aspx

Housing and employment numbers and locations in Uttoxeter are being driven by the Borough Council’s Local Plan, but our Neighbourhood Plan can help shape what these new developments look like, what community facilities are in them and how the environment is protected.

What do you think?

Jobs and the local Economy

We know that Uttoxeter provides employment for many people, but many residents commute to work outside the parish. Through the Plan we have an opportunity to help Uttoxeter remain a place where people can both live and work.

Should we, and how can we, help local businesses start up, grow and provide a wider range of employment opportunities for people in the parish? We need to understand the possible demand for local jobs and to understand your views about whether you think the local economy should grow, in what way and what barriers may need to be overcome.

What do you think?

Protecting our Environment

Uttoxeter is a rural market town with important local features such as the town’s green spaces, listed buildings, brooks and protected trees. The importance of the town centre has been recognised by its designation as a Conservation Area.

The Neighbourhood Plan gives us the opportunity for a leading role in protecting and enhancing these environmental assets for the future benefit of the community. More than that, the Plan can help in determining the location and quality of new development and setting standards of design and sustainability.

What do you think?

Improving Community Services

Uttoxeter has a range of services and facilities that support the well-being of the local community. These include such things as health, recreation and leisure facilities, footpaths, allotments, parks and public transport. Maintaining and improving these may all help to achieve a more sustainable community. Good access to green spaces, recreation and leisure facilities will, for example, help encourage active lifestyles and reduce health problems in the community.

This section of the survey asks you to identify those services where you think the Neighbourhood Plan should promote improvements.

What do you think?

Creating a Sustainable Community

The Town Council has stated to East Staffordshire Borough Council that it welcomes the potential of further growth of the town and will be actively seeking sustainable industrial and housing development whilst protecting the rural areas.

The Neighbourhood Plan is required by national planning policy to help achieve ‘sustainable development’. What does this mean for our community and its future? What is our vision for what the Parish should be like in 2031? What options might we consider?

Some of the key things might include combating climate change through actions which help reduce our use of fossil fuels e.g. gas and oil. Creating a town where people can live and work, could be a major ambition. It might be done by encouraging renewable energy schemes, allocating more land for local food production or better public transport facilities.

What do you think?

 

Residential Survey Questionnaire

Click here to complete the Residential Survey Questionnaire

 

Business Survey Questionnaire

Click here to complete the Business Survey Questionnaire