Abram Communities Together Neighbourhood Plan 2018 – 2033 ACT NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN 1 Contents 1. Introduction p.3 2. Abram Ward key characteristics p.6 3. Vision and objectives p.8 4. Policy overview p.10 5. Policies p.12 6. Delivery plan p.31 7. Appendices p.xx 1. Introduction ACT NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN 2 1.1 The Neighbourhood Plan The Abram Communities Together Neighbourhood Plan covers the period 2018 to 2033. It enables local people to lead on shaping development in the area through a joint vision for the neighbourhood. The Localism Act of 2011 introduced the option of Neighbourhood Planning in England. A Neighbourhood Plan document is written by a town or parish council, or in urban areas a Neighbourhood Forum, to guide future development, regeneration and conservation of a particular area. This Plan is about how the land in Abram Ward will be used and developed and it contains planning policies and proposals for improving the area, plus the allocation of key sites for development. A Neighbourhood Plan is a legal planning document and needs to use a range of formal and technical terms; there is a detailed glossary of the terms used in this document in Appendix 1. There are a number of stages to successfully completing the process of undertaking a Neighbourhood Plan, these are: ● Designation of the plan area ● Designation of the Neighbourhood Forum ● Engaging with the community ● Writing the plan ● Consulting with the community ● Submitting the plan to the local authority for further consultation ● The plan is inspected by an independent planning examiner ● A local referendum is held to decide whether the plan should be adopted (more than 50% of those voting in the referendum must vote ‘yes’ in order to bring the plan into force). When a Neighbourhood Plan has been ‘adopted’, or ‘made’, the policies within the plan must be taken into account by anyone making a planning application and when planning applications and appeals are considered and decided by the local planning authority. 1.2 Setting up our Neighbourhood Plan Community consultation to discuss the possibility of developing the Abram Communities Together (ACT) Neighbourhood Plan began in early 2014, following a meeting between community representatives and local residents from across Abram Ward. On 25 May 2014, a meeting was attended by 90 Abram Ward residents at which the idea of a neighbourhood plan was discussed and supported. In 2015, formal applications were submitted to Wigan Council to designate Abram Ward as a Neighbourhood Plan Area and to form a Neighbourhood Forum. The Abram Ward Neighbourhood Forum was formally designated on 6 August 2015. In April 2018 the forum formally changed its name to Abram Ward Communities Together Neighbourhood Forum (ACT Forum). 1.3 ACT Neighbourhood Plan Area The Neighbourhood Plan Area was formally designated by Wigan Council on 6 August 2015. The area lies at the centre of Wigan Borough. It includes all of the electoral Ward of Abram, except for a number of streets within Chatsworth Fold housing estate in the north of the Ward, as half of this estate is in Ince Ward and the Ward boundary does not relate well to features on the ground (Figure 1). ACT NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN 3 The Plan Area includes the villages of Abram, Platt Bridge, Bickershaw, Bamfurlong, Bryn Gates and Spring View. Within this document, Bamfurlong and Bryn Gates are jointly known as Bamfurlong. 1 Figure 1 Abram Communities Together Plan Area (©Crown Copyright, Office for National Statistics) The Plan Area shares boundaries with Ince (Ince Ward) to the north, Hindley (Hindley Ward) and Hindley Green (Hindley Green Ward) to the north-east, Leigh (Leigh West Ward) to the east, Golborne and Lowton (Golborne and Lowton West Ward) to the south, Ashton (Ashton Ward) and Bryn (Bryn Ward) to the west and Wigan (Worsley Mesnes Ward) to the north-west. 1.4 Conforming to basic conditions A Neighbourhood Plan must comply with national, local and city-regional planning strategy and legislation, this is described as meeting ‘basic conditions’. The plan must: ● Have appropriate regard to national policies and advice contained in guidance issued by the Secretary of State ● Seek to contribute to the achieving of sustainable development ● Generally conform to the strategic policies contained within Wigan Council’s Local 2 Development Plan and Greater Manchester’s Spatial Framework, Revised Draft, 2019 3 (GMSF) 4 ● Be compatible with EU law and human rights obligations 1 Produced by Wigan Council Planning Department, 2015 2 Wigan Council (2013), Wigan Local Plan: Core Strategy, ​ ​ ​ 3 Greater Manchester Combined Authority (2019), Greater Manchester’s Plan for Homes, Jobs and the Environment; Greater ​ ​ Manchester Spatial Framework – Revised Draft – January 2019 4 Legislation.gov.uk (2018), ‘The Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012’ ​ http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/637/part/5/made - accessed 1.2.18 ​ ACT NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN 4 Additionally, a Neighbourhood Plan may not impose less development than that identified in the Local Development Plan. For more detail on how Abram Communities Together Neighbourhood Plan meets the conditions set out above see separate Basic Conditions Statement. 1.5 Community consultations (add in consultation info from 2016 and 2017) ​ ACT Forum have consulted with local people across the Plan area in order to inform the development of the vision and objectives and the development of policies for Abram Ward. Two smaller community engagement surveys were undertaken in 2016 and 2017. The 2016 consultation took place over xx days, in xx venue(s). In total xx people took part, they lived in xx ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ villages. The 2017 consultation took place over xx days, in xx venue(s). In total xx people took part, ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ they lived in xx villages. ​ ​ ​ In 2018 ACT Forum commissioned Placed to undertake a more in-depth survey with local people. This took place over five days in May 2018, with an exhibition and interactive engagement activities being held in five outdoor locations, one in each village. 136 people took part in the survey (see Placed Consultation for more details). Key findings from the Placed Consultation were: ● Concerns around losing green space and traffic congestion ● The importance of quality, safe, accessible and well-maintained green space ● Green Gym provision was very popular ● Providing cycle paths that connect green spaces ● A lack of awareness of the network of green spaces in the ward ● Support for community markets and community cafes ● Importance of retaining community centres and clubs ● Enhancing safety and maintenance at children’s play spaces ● A lack of awareness of what community facilities are available in other villages A six-month long engagement project took place entitled ‘Picture This’ from November 2018 to April 2019, It was co-designed and produced with a team of nine people who live or work in Abram Ward. The project asked local people to consider the history of shops and small business across the ward. Local people engaged in various stages of the project: 130 people responded with stories and memories of shops and small business, on postcards and via Facebook; 65 people attended a final event focussed on community wealth building; 18 business managers/owners in Platt Bridge commented in the Business Premises Report; seven local people took part in Platt Bridge Community Green design workshops and 65 people from across the ward commented on the draft vision for the Community Green redesign. Evidence from the engagement surveys and projects have been integrated into the development of policies. 2. Abram Ward key characteristics (add in photos) ​ A Baseline Evidence Report of Abram Ward has been written to describe in depth, the character of the neighbourhood and its five settlements. This evidence underpins the policies contained within this Plan. The key features of Abram Ward are described here (see Baseline Evidence Report for detail): ACT NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN 5 2.1 Abram Ward occupies a central location in Wigan Borough. It has five villages Abram, Bamfurlong, Bickershaw, Platt Bridge and Spring View. Adjacent neighbourhoods are Lower Ince, Ashton in Makerfield, Golbourne and Hindley. Abram Ward has several busy main running through it, forming a junction in the centre of Platt Bridge, they are A537, A58 and B5237. The Plan area doesn’t have a train station. 2.2 The Plan area has a wide range of attractive, accessible green spaces. The entire Plan area is at the centre of Wigan’s regional park The Greenheart. There are four Local Nature Reserves (LNRs), two Sites of Special Scientific interest (SSSis) and seven Sites of Biological Importance (SBIs). These green spaces play an important role in providing Wigan’s essential Green Infrastructure. Many of them form important wildlife habitats, and the neighbourhood forms a key role in Wigan’s ecological network, being part of the Greater Manchester Wetlands area and the Carbon Landscape Project. th th 2.3 Coal mining was the major industry in the 19 ​ and 20 ​ centuries. However, little of this ​ ​ historic, cultural or architectural history is visible now. Many of Abram Wards green spaces are landscapes restored from former coal mining sites over the last 30 years. The five villages have distinct and separate identities, there remains a lack of connectivity between them. 2.4 In 2015 the ward’s population was 15,544. The local population experiences some deprivation; there are particular concerns about poor levels of health. Life expectancy in the ward is significantly lower that both Wigan and England as a whole. 2.5 Housing character differs within each of the five villages. There is a range of types and tenures of housing, dating from Victorian times to the present day. A fairly large number of house building completions have taken place in the last 13 years.