Neighbourhood Plans
What is the future for our Community? Your opinion and involvement matters...
The Neighbourhood Plan contain information about the plan which is being generated by the PC and a team of local residents.
Please visit these pages regularly to keep up with what is going on.
Most important – please take part in the events when they take place – the plan needs everybody’s inputs and opinions at various stages along the way.
To contact the team, please use our email n.plan.esbg@gmail.com or visit our Facebook page – QR code
What is a Neighbourhood Plan?
Creating a Neighbourhood Plan is a legal right for communities from a Localism Act
We don’t have one – we need one now because some big planning decisions are coming based on the push for more housing
With a plan we can shape the future of our parish and resist housing and other development that is inappropriate for the parish.
Our plan becomes part of the big Basingstoke & Deane “Local Plan” which is being updated.
For the plan to be approved we need to show wide consultation with everyone in the parish and ultimately agreement via a referendum.
Your Parish Council strongly believes a Neighbourhood Plan is essential for the views of our community to be heard and actioned and to enable us to shape and protect the future of our Parish.
A Neighbourhood Plan is a formal planning document that looks at housing development, protecting our environment, reviewing our roads/traffic and the services, facilities, and infrastructure that our community will need over the next 10+ years.
In December 2020, lots of you responded to the possibility that 400+ houses might be built in Bishops Green. Many of you responded with a clear “no”, raising concerns over services and our environment. However, the potential for this and other developments has not gone away, and we need to be able to influence planning decisions that affect our Parish.
The Parish Council has agreed to start the development of a Neighbourhood Plan. Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council who are responsible for Planning in this area of Hampshire support this initiative and will use the plan to guide decisions relating to our Parish.
To progress development of this plan, we now need a good number of volunteers from across the parish.
It does not matter where you live within the Parish or how long you have lived here. Everyone will have something to offer, and diversity of ideas, knowledge and skills is important in the development of a successful Neighbourhood Plan.
We need some people to be part of a steering group to manage the project and others to participate in working teams that will look at all the different aspects that make our rural community what it is and to secure its future.
To make this happen we need everyone in the parish to be involved one way or another.
Please help us to define your future you by:
Signing up for further communications. Please email N.Plan.ESBG@gmail.com for further communications about the plan
Giving your opinions in surveys and meetings
Volunteering to be a member of the steering group and work teams that are required to develop the plan – even if your time is limited, your contribution will be valuable.
Encouraging your neighbours and friends to participate.
Click HERE to sign up and be actively involved in the plan.
FAQ
What is our community?
The Civil Parish of Ecchinswell, Sydmonton and Bishops Green is our local community, and the Parish Council is our voice within the Borough and County Councils.
Our Parish is one of several communities in the Borough of Basingstoke and Deane. The Borough Council is responsible for many of the services we use and for housing and other development in the area. Hampshire County Council oversees the county as a whole and is responsible for roads, education, social care and other services.
Our Parish is very diverse, comprising two core villages, several smaller groups of houses, some bigger agricultural estates and a population with a wide span of age and wealth
You probably consider yourself a member of a smaller community (e.g. Bishops Green, Ecchinswell, member of an association/club or resident of a small group of houses) but for the purposes of influencing planning and services we need to come together as a parish.
What is a Neighbourhood Plan?
Neighbourhood Plans have been around for some years and have usually been developed by parish communities in response to Borough Council (or other authority) Local Plans requiring development of significant new housing. Local Plans are driven by central Government driving the building of more houses to address a national shortage especially of “affordable” housing.
Development of an approved Neighbourhood Plan requires a team from the parish to follow a tightly prescribed format and process working with the Borough Council. The final plans also need to be approved in a local referendum.
The primary focus of the formal Neighbourhood Plan is future housing development – how many, what type, and where. On these matters, it has some legal force. It can and should lay out future requirements for facilities and services but influence on these points may be more limited.
A good Neighbourhood Plan will only be made possible via widespread engagement with the local community and the creation of a community-led, forward looking vision for the parish. This vision needs to address not only housing but also the facilities and services the community will need in the future and a clear view of what kind of pace we the residents want the parish to be (and not to be!).
Developing and communicating a Neighbourhood Plan is a significant undertaking – for example Burghclere and Kingsclere have mobilised big teams and each taken 2+ years to develop and get approval of their plans.
Why do we need a Neighbourhood Plan now? Two things are prompting your Parish Council to kick off development of a Neighbourhood Plan.
1) Actions by Potential Developers
There are three ideas in play for up to 500 houses to be built in Bishops Green. None of these is yet a formal proposal seeking official planning permission.
As was seen in the recent consultation triggered by the Catesby Estates Vision for ~400 houses at Bishops Green Farm, there were overwhelmingly negative views on such a development not least because of concerns over the extra stress on already overloaded facilities and services but also the impact on our current basically rural community. Feedback from the consultation has been given to Catesby Estates.
Two other sites in Bishops Green have been offered to Basingstoke and Deane as having the potential for up to 100 houses. No plans of any sort have been tabled.
A well-founded Neighbourhood Plan can help check the flow of unsolicited development plans that are inappropriate to the parish and do not support our vision.
2) Response to Local Plan Update by Basingstoke and Deane
Basingstoke and Deane are responsible for the development and maintenance of a Local Plan for housing development.
The current plan issued in 2016 covers up to 2029 and did not require extra houses in the Ecchinswell, Sydmonton and Bishops Green parish which was seen as rural with limited facilities and hence not appropriate for significant development.
This contrasts with neighbouring parishes like Burghclere and Kingsclere which were targeted with ~10 and ~ 50 houses; this prompted both parishes to create Neighbourhood Plans.
Major developments for thousands of houses are proposed in Basingstoke and Deane in the Manydown and potentially the M3 Junction 7 areas.
With continuing pressure for more housing from central government, the update of the Local Plan from Basingstoke and Deane may target our parish with some development despite the positioning of our parish as not appropriate for significant development in the previous plan. This may be as few as 10 houses but could be more.
We have been advised by Basingstoke and Deane to start preparing for development of a Neighbourhood Plan. The Basingstoke and Deane plan will likely not be complete for a couple of years, but we could have a firmer indication of a parish housing target later in 2021.
Having a clear community-led plan will help us ensure any targets set for the parish are met in a way that fits our vision for the community.
How does the Parish Council want to move forward?
We see a number of steps.
Communicating the need for a Vision and a formal Neighbourhood Plan for the parish – the objective of this and related communications.
Ensuring we have the means to keep the whole community aware and involved in the Vision and Neighbourhood Plan as they develop. Hence the request for everyone to sign up for further communications.
Recruit and mobilise a diverse team of volunteers to develop the plan. We will need people from across the community with a good range of knowledge and skills. Please step forward if you would like to help – we will also be out encouraging volunteers! There is a small team already forming but we need many more people with different backgrounds.
By means yet to be defined, we want as many people as possible to be involved in the first stage of developing a forward-looking vision for the Parish. More on this coming soon.
We understand that development of the formal Neighbourhood Plan follows standard steps. When we have a better understanding of this, we will communicate it. We expect the activity to continue throughout at least 2021 and 2022.
We ask that everyone in the community gets involved in discussion with friends and neighbours on the plan for the parish and also encourages widespread participation in the teams and in the various consultations.
Who do we think should be involved?
Advice from parishes which have done Neighbourhood Plans indicates that a substantial team is required to complete a good quality plan. The team needs to represent the whole parish and contain a good mix of skills and experience. Obviously, people will vary in the level of time and commitment they can bring. The team would comprise a steering group and working parties.
The key roles we envisage for the steering group are:
Chair to lead the processes.
Vice Chair to support and stand in as required.
Secretary to ensure the process is fully documented.
Communications Lead to ensure the whole parish community is connected/engaged.
Financial Lead to develop and run the project budget.
Data Collection Lead to manage the surveys and collection of key statistics.
We expect there will need to be several working parties covering, at least, the following areas:
Community communications & engagement
Environment & Sustainability (inc climate change)
Heritage, History & Conservation (inc existing Ecchinswell Conservation Area)
Traffic & Roads
Services (inc transport/education/medical)
Facilities & Infrastructure (inc electricity, telecoms, water/sewage, gas etc)
Local Businesses& future employment opportunities
Resultant Housing & Development needs/opportunities
A critical first step in the process is the recruitment of the team.
If you are interested in joining the team, pasting please click here to register
What is a “Community-Led Forward-Looking Vision” for the Parish and why do we need this?
The formal Neighbourhood Planning process is very focussed on housing development based on targets cascaded form central government via Basingstoke and Deane’s Local Plan.
Beyond this, there are developers and landowners looking for opportunities to build housing – their objectives are basically commercial.
Neither of the above considers fully the views of the community. Such community views often focus on current shortcomings in facilities and services as well as the change or problems that significant development can bring.
A “vision” or “ambition” for the Parish should include all this but ideally should also include our views on what kind of community we want to be in the future and what needs to change or be developed to bring this about. It could say we want to be like this or that village or place or not like this or that place. It should also talk about the facilities and services the community will need and in what ways we want the environment to remain as it is or to change.
Despite all the current constraints we have over meeting, we want to find a way of thinking about this with as many people in the parish as possible. If you have ideas, let us know!
Our parish is mainly about 2 different villages – Bishops Green and Ecchinswell – surely, we need more than one plan?
The answer to this is NO.
The parish is more than a couple of well separated villages which are different in many ways, although nominally sharing some unique features. We also have several smaller groups of houses and some big agricultural estates.
Common to the whole parish is a high dependence on external facilities and services (shopping, medical services, public transport, most education, etc).
The Neighbourhood plan normally looks for a single plan covering a Parish.
We want to ensure both the Vision and the Neighbourhood Plan take full account of the current differences but also build and describe a cohesive picture of how we collectively see the future.
Want to Know More?
Please contact the Neighbourhood Planning Team at (N.Plan.ESBG@gmail.com)
Links to Useful Documents
Existing Basingstoke & Deane Local Plan .This was adopted in 2016 and covers 2011-2029.
Basingstoke &Deane’s Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA) published in Dec 2020. This assessment identifies two pieces of land suggested by developers for new housing in Bishops Green. These are outside of existing settlement policy boundaries (SPBs) and hence outside current planning policy but have a “currently estimated yield” of ~100 houses.
National Planning Policy Framework Published in Feb 2019.
Locality – a community support organisation who guide Neighbourhood Planning activities.
Overview of Progress - What has happened so far?
March 2023
On 7th March 2023, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council agreed to proceed to a referendum on the Ecchinswell, Bishops Green and Sydmonton Neighbourhood Plan. As required by the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 as amended, a Decision Statement has been published which can be found here.
All the details and next steps for our plan can be seen on the dedicated B&D BC webpage.
We expect the referendum to be held in May alongside the Local Elections.
February 2023
The Examiner's report was issued on 6th February 2023 and can be viewed here. It recommends that the plan (subject to some minor changes) will meet Basic Conditions and should proceed to referendum. The PC will review the report at their meting on 8th Feb.
January 2023
Examination of the plan commenced on 6th January 2023 as can be seen on the B&D BC webpage for the ES&BG NP and specifically here.
November & December 2022
The ES&BG Neighbourhood Plan was published by Basingstoke & Deane on 7th November 2022. This marked the start of the formal (Regulation 16) 6 week consultation that is required before the plan is Examined. All detail of the plan can be seen on the dedicated pages on the B&D BC website here. The consultation concluded on 19th December 2022. All the representations from the consultation can be seen here. The NP steering team reviewed these and on behalf of the parish council have made a series of comments taking into account the recent decision by B&D BC to approve the Woodside View Planning application. The plan will now move into Examination.
September & October 2022
The Pre-Submission Consultation was completed in early October. Feedback from statutory consultees and residents is summarised here. From this the team has consulted with B&DC Planning to address a number of points raised and amended the plan documents. The amendments retain the direction of the proposed policies but revise some of the wording to ensure successful examination. In addition, a number of new documents have been produced including a Consultation Statement and a Basic Conditions Statement. These documents demonstrate how the plan has been developed based on the inputs of residents and stakeholders and also complies with the various national and borough regulations. On Friday 21st October, the Parish Council agreed that the plan and supporting documents were ready for submission to B&DC for the formal processes of publication consultation and examination. The ES&BG Neighbourhood Plan was formally submitted on Monday 24th October 2022 - this is announced here.
August 2022
August saw completion of all the documentation to enable initiation of the 6 week Regulation 14 Pre-Submission Consultation process for our Neighbourhood Plan. Comments from residents are an important part of this process. We have distributed a leaflet to all homes highlighting the key points of the plan and giving links to a website where the full set of documents can be viewed. We hope that most residents will be able to find time to look through this. It is important that as many people as possible make comments either supporting the plan and/or suggesting improvements and/or expressing any concerns. Please can you do this by no later than 1700 Friday 7th October 2022 ideally by email to yjr ES&BG NP email: n.plan.esbg@gmail.com with a copy to: clerk@ecchinswell-pc.gov.uk .
We are aware that some residents may prefer to look at a paper copy of the plan documents rather than the on-line version so we also want to remind you that we are offering drop-in sessions for this as follows:
Thur 15th Sept 2022 1730-1930 Ecchinswell Village Hall
Wed 21st Sept 2022 1730-1930 Bishops Green Village Hall
Sat 24th Sept 2022 1300-1500 Royal Oak Garden
Members of the Parish Council and the Neighbourhood Plan Team will be present to answer questions and take comments.
July 2022
July has been dominated by the development of the plan document and supporting evidence ready for the various stages of consultation and examination. We now have a full set of draft documents that are now being reviewed and refined with the help of our consultant, B&D BC and AECOM (the independent body that has been doing sustainability and design code work for us.
Our objective is to initiate the Regulation 14 Pre-Submission Consultation in late August and if this goes well, submit for examination in October.
We will be sharing the full plan with the community from late August and looking for any comments residents might have.
June 2022
June has seen the NP team focused on
a) finalising the site selection for the extra homes envisaged in the plan in line with the options shared with the community,
b) drafting the extensive documentation for the next stage of the process....this is the detailed plan which is based on the building blocks that were strongly supported by the community in the May consultation.
This will all come together as the full draft plan that is then submitted for "Regulation 14 Pre-Submission Consultation" which will be a further opportunity for community review/comment as well as review by various statutory consultees. We hope to reach this milestone within the next few weeks.
June 2022
June has seen the NP team focused on
a) finalising the site selection for the extra homes envisaged in the plan in line with the options shared with the community,
b) drafting the extensive documentation for the next stage of the process....this is the detailed plan which is based on the building blocks that were strongly supported by the community in the May consultation.
This will all come together as the full draft plan that is then submitted for "Regulation 14 Pre-Submission Consultation" which will be a further opportunity for community review/comment as well as review by various statutory consultees. We hope to reach this milestone within the next few weeks.
May 2022
The main feature of May's activity was the Community Consultation held on 26/27/28th in the Village Halls. A large number of residents joined and spent significant time reviewing the overall direction and key components for the plan that have been built from responses to the Consultastion last September. Overall there was strong support for what was presented and this combined with taking account of the various comments should enable us to develop the detailed documentation now required. Our thanks to all who attended and particulalry to those who helped make the events run smoothly and answered residents' questions.
A summary of the findings is posted here.
The next steps are for us to finalise the site selection for the modest number of extra homes planned for each settlement over the plan period and to work on drafting the first full version of the plan for what is known as Regulation 14 Pre-Submission Consultation.
April 2022
The Call for Sites process has continued with more detailed work on assessment of the various options added.
Drafting of policies and supporting evidence has also continued.
Significant work started on the preparation of material to be shared with the community at the consultation sessions scheduled for the end of May. This will be an important occasion for the plan in that the the team will be seeking support for the basic components of the plan which can then be taken forward into the first formal draft ready for statutory consultation during Q3.
We have also had confirmation that Locality have received continuing financial support of 2022-23 Neighbourhood Planning from central Government so we have applied for the money required for us to complete the project. This should come through in early May.
March 2022
Good progress this month.
We have continued the Call for Sites process arriving at a list of potentially viable sites that have now been submitted for a Sustainability Assessment by AECOM (the external consultant we are using for this and some other work).
We have also had the formal kick-off and field visit for another project with AECOM on Design Codes/Standards for future housing - this part of the plan will ensure any new developments are properly in keeping with the rural character of our settlements.
Drafting of policies and other components of the plan are also progressing with the objective of sharing with the community in consultation events scheduled for late May (dates are now fixed for 26/27/28 May).
February 2022
February has been spent progressing the Call for Sites process reviewing responses from landowners offering potential sites and developing a long-list of sites for further evaluation which will include a Strategic Environmental Appraisal (SEA).
Early drafts of policies and development of the supporting evidence base is also progressing.
In addition, we have kicked off work on a parish-wide SEA for which AECOM have prepared a scoping report that has gone for consultation with the Environment Agency and Historic/Natural England. Design Code work for all future development is also getting underway.
We are targeting for some public consultation on the draft plan around May or June - watch this space!
January 2022
Based on the September consultation, indications of housing need in the parish from Basingstoke & Deane Housing Dept and on the likely allocation of 15 extra homes for the parish as part of the B&D BC Local Plan update, we have initiated a "Call for Sites" process to identify suitable locations. You can see more detail here.
November & December 2021
The team have been undertaking more technical work to understand what we will have to develop and submit in a plan that will ultimately secure approval. We are learning from other parishes that have been through similar journeys (especially our neighbours in Burghclere) and from our consultant. We now have a long list of documents and materials that will need to be developed – we have gained some new members in the extended team to help us with this – more hands are always welcome!
We have also published on this website the vision and policies that have been developed from the consultations we held in September. We are confident these reflect the views of the large number of residents who contributed…please read the document and let us have any comments or questions.
We have also had dialogue with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council on the development of our plan and the links to their work on an update to their “Local Plan” for the Borough. There is a key meeting coming up on their “Spatial Policy for Rural Settlements” which will influence our plan. This meeting has been delayed several times but is now set for 6th January 2022.
October 2021
A quieter month with a focus on consolidating the inputs from the community received at the September consultations and a further series of engagements with Basingstoke and Deane on the latest steps in their Local Plan Update which will have influence on our Neighbourhood Plan. The team is also evaluating Government initiatives on "First Homes" and "Nature Recovery" that will need to be embraced in our plan
September 2021
Important steps this month
We have had two meetings with our consultant oneil homer:
The first was an inception meeting that laid out how we will work the project with them over the next 12-18 months. Our objective is to have a "made plan" ready for referendum by around October 2022. The final approval by referendum is likely to be combined with Local Elections in May 2023.
The second meeting started the preparation of a vision for our neighbourhood Plan. The team's input to this will be augmented by the thoughts and opinions of residents gained from the Community Consultation events and ultimately tested with residents via the draft plan.
The big news for September was the Community Consultation events held at the Village Halls on 24th and 25th September. More than 100 residents attended and enthusiastically gave us their thoughts and opinions at or soon after these events. Nearly 1500 written comments or supportive "votes" were collected. An overview of the findings is here.
We have also had some input from Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council on the update of their Local Plan. We are ensuring that the development of our Neighbourhood Plan is well aligned to the emerging direction of this update process.
August 2021
Simon Willson - an Ecchinswell resident - has joined the Steering Team - welcome Simon!
We have selected and appointed oneil homer as consultants to help us develop our plan. They have a good track record of helping similar parishes with their plans - a good example of this is their work with Burghclere on the successful development and approval of their plan.
There have been a few more pop-up events to build awareness of the project and preparations are now underway for the big consultation events that will take place in the village halls on 24th and 25th of September. Watch out for the invitations that will be delivered to all homes in the parish and please make every effort to attend.
The photo competition has now closed. There was a rather small number of entries but winners have been selected and are being contacted.
July 2021
Various pop-up events have taken place to inform residents about work on the plan and to build awareness of the Community Consultations on 24 and 25 September
Interviews with businesses based in the parish and key stakeholders are being set up
A short list of consultants has bee identified to help us with progressing the details of the plan in line with procedures and format laid down by the authorities. Interviews to select the preferred support partner are set for early August.
Grants to support the process are being sought from Locality (a government body that supports neighbourhood plans). All being well, the grants will cover the most/all of the costs so there will be minimal draw on Parish Council funds
June 2021
Logo competition completed - lots of praise for the great work by all the children (well done!!) and a winner selected (congratulations Leo and thanks to the external judges)
Logo has now been incorporated in most communications material and you will see lots of coasters with the log that will remind you to participate in developing the plan
Two exhibitions of logos held in Village Halls and used to build awareness of the NP project and discuss development of the parish over the next 10 years - more pop-up consultation events to follow
Plan set up for big community consultation sessions on Sept 24th and 25th in the Village Halls - please note these dates
Photo competition launched so we have a bank of photos of the parish to use in the plan - get snapping! - deadline 20th August
May 2021
More detailed planning of Community Consultation including pop-events
Planning for business and stakeholder consultation
First contacts with potential consultants to help with plan development
Initial application for a grant from Locality to help fund plan development
Learning from experience of another Neighbourhood Plan - Twyford (near Winchester)
Launch of Logo Competition
April 2021
Initial meetings to plan first wave of consultations with the community about how people see living in the parish today and what is important for the future
Formation of Steering Group to lead the process
March 2021
Launch of the plan to all Parish residents via email, website, social media and a leaflet to every household
First wave of volunteers recruited
First (zoom) meeting of volunteers
February 2021
Parish Council agrees need for a plan to be developed
Basingstoke & Deane approve our application to develop a neighbourhood Plan
Launch materials developed to engage the parish
January 2021
First meetings to gather a team
Sharing of experience from Burghclere Parish neighbourhood Plan which is nearly complete
ES&BG Neighbourhood Steering Team Meeting
Output from Community Consultation on 24 & 25 September 2021
Thank you to everyone who for joined us and gave your thoughts and opinions. Here is an overview of what residents told us at these events.
Output from Community Consultation 26/27/28 May 2022
Thank you to the large number of residents who joined these events and gave us overall very supportive feedback on the direction and key components proposed for the plan. Here is a short summary of what we heard.
Essence, Vision & Objectives for the Plan
This short document lays out the essence of the plan that was shared in the May 2022 community consultations as well as the vision and objectives that were originally developed from the September 2021 consultations. The building blocks for the plan come from these.
All of this received strong support from residents at the May 2022 consultation and is the basis for the draft plan that will be submitted for the first steps of approval in Aug/Sept 2022.
August 2022 Progress Update
Here is an important progress update for parish residents.
Please look out for our communications on the next step which will be your chance to review the whole plan. We hope to start this on 25th August. Look out for email and Facebook messages on this and for a leaflet with details that will be coming through your door.
If you have questions or comments, please contact us via email to this address: n.plan.esbg@gmail.com
Launch of Reg 14 Pre-Submission Consultation
On Wednesday 24th August 2022, the ES&BG Parish Council agreed that the draft ES&BG Neighbourhood Plan should move forward into “Pre-Submission Consultation”. This is a six-week period for a range of official bodies to review and make any comments on the plan. It is also an opportunity for parish residents to see and comment on the detailed plan that has been created from the community consultation events held in September 2021 and May 2022. This pre-submission consultation starts on Thursday 25th August 2022 and concludes at 1700 on Friday 7th October 2022.
The plan documents are available to view at this link ESBP NP Pre Submission Consultation
After the consultation, the Parish Council and the NP Steering Team will review comments/representations and make appropriate adjustments to the plan. Assuming no major issues have emerged, the plan can then move forward into the formal “examination” phase. This should complete around the end of the year. A successful examination then enables the plan to go to a referendum of parish residents – this is likely to co-incite with the May 2023 local elections. With a majority vote in favour, the plan is then “made” and has full weight.
The official bodies are invited to review the plan with this letter.
Parish residents are being invited to view and read the plan with this email and with this leaflet which is being distributed to homes in the parish.
We look forward to hearing from you.
If you have questions, please contact the team via n.plan.esbg@gmail.com
Feedback from Regulation 14 Pre-Submission Consultation
Thank you to all who have responded to the consultation that completed last Friday. We are pleased to report that we received a higher level of community input at this stage than many parishes.
The overall result of the process is support for proceeding towards submission of the ES&BG Neighbourhood Plan for the official Regulation 15/16 Consultation/Examination. Once this process is successfully completed, the final plan can go for referendum and will then be fully “live”. Our objective remains for the referendum to be included in the Local Elections on 4th May 2023.
Key points from the consultation:
· Written input was received from 83 residents. 64 support the plan, 8 object to the plan and another 11 only made comments. Of the 8 objections, 6 were from immediate neighbours to the proposed sites. Overall, there was strong support for the plan, for getting it “made” as soon as possible to block unwanted development and recognition that the plan is a good representation of the inputs from the community in the Sep 2021 and May 2022 consultations.
· A proportion of the 63 “support the plan” group expressed some reluctance about the selection of the site for Bishops Green but recognise there is not a deliverable alternative that meets the community vision and they all agree that the imperative is to get the plan approved as soon as possible.
· Basingstoke and Deane are supportive of the draft plan and the fact that we are developing it based on strong community input. They also welcome the fact that the draft plan anticipates and embraces the evidence/potential policies emerging in their Local Plan Update. B&D BC Planning have made a number of suggestions to improve/clarify the plan and this work is now underway.
· Other Statutory Consultees had no comment or made minor points for improvement.
Residents who submitted substantial comments or questions will receive an individual response
In meetings on 11th and 12th October, the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group and the Parish Council have reviewed the outcome of the consultation and agreed to proceed towards formal submission of the plan as soon as possible. There is significant work to be done to update the documents in the light of comments received and to complete some of the extra material that is required. With the support of the working team and our consultants, we are targeting submission to happen before the end of October.
Marian Dain
Chair ES&BG PC and ES&BG NP Steering Group
14th October 2022
Regulation 15/16 Submission
Dear Resident,
We posted a webpage on 14th October giving an overview of the outcome of the Pre-Submission Consultation that completed on 7th October.
We are now pleased to tell you that the work to ready the plan for submission has been completed and on Friday 21st October, the Parish Council as the Qualifying Body signed off the package of documents for submission. The steps required for submission were:
· Some amendments to the wording of policies and supporting text in response to community comments and as recommended by B&D BC to ensure successful examination. These changes are not extensive and retain the intentions and principles of the plan but ensure compliance with national/borough regulations and policies;
· Completion of a final version of the Sustainability Appraisal by AECOM – this concludes that the ES&BG NP is “anticipated to have a positive effect on sustainability”
· Completion of a Consultation Statement and a Basic Conditions Statement; the former is designed to show how the plan has been created on the basis of input from residents and other stakeholders and the latter shows how the plan complies with national/borough regulations and policies.
Formal submission of the ES&BG NP to B&D BC was made on 24th October. Submission triggers a set of processes that will take place over the next 13-15 weeks:
· Legal checks of the plan documents by B&D BC;
· Publication of the plan by B&D BC;
· A 6 week period for comments and representations;
· Appointment of an independent examiner who undertakes a through review of all the plan documentation.
At the end of this process, we hope the plan will be “approved” as it stands or with minor amendments and hence be ready for final approval via a referendum among residents. Our objective remains for this referendum to be held no later than the Local Elections due on 4th May 2023.
On behalf of the Parish Council, I would like to thank everyone involved for helping get us to this stage.
Marian Dain
Chair ES&BG Parish Council
Regulation 16 Publication and Examination
On a webpage published in late October, we advised you that, following the Regulation 14 Pre-Submission Consultation, the ES&BG Neighbourhood Plan had been submitted to Basingstoke & Deane BC for publication and examination and gave you an outline of the set of processes that were now underway.
B&D BC have now completed a set of legal checks of the documentation and are satisfied that the Neighbourhood Plan and the process followed to compile it comply with the statutory requirements set out in the relevant sections of the Town and Country Planning Act (1990).
This means that our plan now moves into Regulation 16 Publication and Examination. This stage includes a further period of consultation. Notification of this is given in this notice from the Planning Policy Team at B&D BC who lead this part of the process.
Please be aware that comments submitted by residents during the Pre-Submission Consultation (during 25 August to 7th October) are included in the Consultation Statement and hence will go to the examiner alongside the plan. Therefore these comments do not need to be repeated.
We are grateful to B&D BC for initiating this next step in the process so soon after submission. This means that formal examination can start in late December and hence we remain optimistic that we are on course to meet our objective of proceeding to referendum no later than the Local Elections due on 4th May 2023 and giving the plan weight to protect the parish from unwanted development.
Marian Dain
Chair ES&BG Parish Council
7th November 2022
Regulation 16 Publication and Examination
This document gives some background to the Woodside View Decision by Basingstoke & Deane Council and, following a review of advice received and input from residents, the Parish Council decision on 14th December 2022 to proceed with the plan in its current form.
Update to Residents 9th February 2023
Here is an update from the Parish Council announcing successful examination of our plan and the next steps.
Update to Residents 29th March 2023
Dear Resident
Further to our message sent on 9th February, the Parish Council is pleased give you a further update on progress with our Neighbourhood Plan.
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council have completed their review of the examiner’s report and following the examiner’s recommendation have formally decided that the plan should go to referendum on 4th May 2023. The referendum is therefore taking place alongside the Local Elections.
The referendum will ask “Do you want Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Ecchinswell, Sydmonton & Bishops Green to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?”.
If the referendum gives a simple majority of ‘Yes’ responses, then our plan will be ‘adopted’ by Basingstoke & Deane and given full weight in future planning and development decisions.
Details for all this are published on the ES&BG NP webpage on the B&D BC website.
Please note that for both the referendum and the Local Elections, in order to vote in person, you will require suitable photo-id (e.g. passport or photo driving licence).
If you do not have suitable id, you can apply on-line for a voter certificate here – this must be done before 25th April.
As an alternative or, if you are going to be away on 4th May and wish to vote, you can apply (by post only) for a postal vote. Details for this are here and your form needs to be received by B&D BC by no later than 1700 on 18th April 2023.
Please note that the Parish Council is not allowed to ask you to vote one way or the other.
Marian Dain
Chair, ES&BG Parish Council
ES&BG NP Referendum 4th May 2023
The final step for our plan is a referendum that will take place alongside the Local Elections on 4th May 2023.
You can view details on the dedicated B&D BC website for our plan which is here.
An overview of the plan can be seen here. This poster will be place on parish notice boards.
Please note that for both the Local Elections and the Referendum, you will need appropriate photo-id.
Referendum Result and Plan is now "Made"
ES&BG Neighbourhood Plan Referendum Result
The Parish Council is pleased to announce that the referendum on the ES&BG Neighbourhood Plan held on 4th May 2023 has resulted in the plan being approved. 88% of those voting were in favour of the plan being used by B&D BC in planning decisions affecting the parish. The official result can be seen here.
We have been advised by B&D BC that the plan It is now part of the Borough development plan and has full weight in the determination of planning applications and that National Planning Policy Framework para 14 protection has been triggered. The latter is important in fending off unwanted development. B&D BC formally “made” the plan at a full Council meeting on 18th May. Full details can be seen here.
The Parish Council would like to thank all the volunteers who worked on the development of the plan and all the residents who contributed their thoughts and opinions.
Chair, Ecchinswell, Sydmonton & Bishops Green Parish Council
6th May 2023
Call for Sites - now moved on to Assessment of Potential Sites
Work on the Neighbourhood Plan has reached the stage where we are issuing a “Call for Sites” Letters have gone out to land owners with land close to Bishops Green and Ecchinswell as we are seeking potential sites for the small number of homes that our consultation and the Local Plan Update suggest we need in the parish. Once a shortlist of suitable sites has been made using recommended screening criteria, this will be tested by community consultation. We will keep residents well informed on how you can take part in this consultation which we expect to take place in Spring/Summer 2022.
The basis of selection for detailed evaluation will be for sites that:
- Are small in size consistent with the small number (~15) of extra homes for the parish seen to be required between now and 2039,
- Are suited for extra housing that is predominately affordable to rent or buy,
- May enable the delivery of employment and/or community space,
- Will preserve the character of the villages in the surrounding landscape,
- Will protect local biodiversity value that cannot be replaced and deliver a biodiversity ‘net’ gain,
- Will not significantly worsen existing traffic congestion and/or safety issues,
- Will deliver low energy use, low water use and zero carbon footprint housing.
Should you own land in the parish near the main settlements and feel it could meet the above criteria but have not been contacted via the Call to Sites process, please make contact with the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group by contacting the Parish Clerk (clerk@ecchinswell-pc.gov.uk).
This process has now moved into an assessment and selection phase following responses from a good number of landowners in the parish who have offered sites for consideration. We will communicate more on a short-list of potential sites when this assessment is complete.