Bosbury Neighbourhood Plan
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Bosbury Neighbourhood Plan A Brief History of the Parish Neighbourhood Planning Background The parishes of Bosbury and Coddington are Neighbourhood planning gives communities direct beside an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty power to develop a shared vision for their (AONB) in the county of Herefordshire, neighbourhood and shape the development and approximately 4 miles north of Ledbury, 12 miles growth of their local area. They are able to choose east of Hereford and 12 miles south-west of where they want new homes, shops and offices to Worcester. The Malvern Hills on the east side be built, have their say on what those new provide both a backdrop and a large influence on buildings should look like and what infrastructure the local weather. should be provided, and grant planning permission for the new buildings they want to see Both villages were once part of the same Manor go ahead. Neighbourhood planning provides a and share a varied history. Bosbury rural parish, powerful set of tools for local people to ensure occupying 4769 acres, and the parish of that they get the right types of development for Coddington with 1076 acres were both part of their community where the ambition of the the old Saxon hundred of Radlow. The name neighbourhood is aligned with the strategic needs Bosbury is derived from the Anglo-Saxon and priorities of the wider local area. ‘Boseburge’ or Bosa’s settlement which is how it appears in the Norman ‘Domesday’ survey of Neighbourhood planning is not a legal 1086. Bosbury had 6 hides of cultivated requirement but a right which communities in farmland, 8 acres of pasture meadow and a England can choose to use. Communities may water mill. The population was around 37 decide that they could achieve the outcomes they villagers and smallholders including a priest who want to see through other planning routes, such had income from one hide of farmland. as incorporating their proposals for the neighbourhood into the Local Plan, or through The Bishop of Hereford was Lord of the Manor other planning mechanisms such as Local and his manor house known as ‘Bishop’s Palace’, Development Orders and supplementary planning on the site of the present Old Court Farmhouse, documents or through pre-application consultation was a favourite residence when bishops visited on development proposals. Communities and local the parish. They held ecclesiastical courts, planning authorities should discuss the different collected tithes and carried out other duties but choices communities have to achieving their also enjoyed hunting deer to provide venison for ambitions for their neighbourhood. the larder. Neighbourhood planning enables communities to Also in Bosbury parish is the former Manor of play a much stronger role in shaping the areas in Upleadon, which included Catley hamlet and which they live and work and in supporting new which was owned by the Knights Templars who development proposals. This is because unlike the parish, village or town plans that communities built a moated Preceptory at the property now may have prepared, a neighbourhood plan forms known as ‘Temple Court’. The river Leadon part of the development plan and sits alongside possibly dielineated the boundary between the the Local Plan prepared by the local planning two manors. authority. Decisions on planning applications will be made using both the Local Plan and the The present Bosbury parish church, The Church neighbourhood plan, and any other material of the Holy Trinity, is a late 12th century considerations. development on an earlier Saxon site, parts of which are visible on the West end of the church. Sir Rowland Morton (who also endowed, through Neighbourhood planning provides the opportunity a grant of land and cottages, the foundation of a for communities to set out a positive vision for Boys’ Grammar School) added a chantry chapel how they want their community to develop over around 1530, with large perpendicular windows the next ten, fifteen, twenty years in ways that unusual for that time. The detached tower, one meet identified local need and make sense for of seven in Herefordshire, once supported a local people. They can put in place planning wooden spire which was struck by lightning in policies that will help deliver that vision for the 1638 and is thought to have been a refuge for sustainable development they want to see. villagers during periods of unrest A girls’ school originally stood on the driveway entrance to the present school. The Grammar school eventually became a junior mixed school with the infants housed on the girls’ school site until it closed when the present school was built in 1968. There were three other places of worship in Bosbury: a Methodist chapel in the village, a Wesleyan chapel on Stanley Hill and a Primitive Methodist chapel at Swinmore. with thanks to Barry Sharples for the above narrative Bosbury Neighbourhood Plan Plan Introduction It must be more than an exercise in meeting Sustainable development is about positive housing supply ‘numbers’ by the addition of growth –making economic, environmental and characterless estates on the rural edge of the social progress for this and future generations. village more typical of suburban developments. These three dimensions constitute what is The objective, therefore, is to enable the provision sustainable in planning terms. of a choice of new homes to meet the needs of all sections of the community in a manner which respects the character of the village and wider • Economic – contributing to building a strong, parish. responsive and competitive economy • Social – supporting strong, vibrant and healthy Communities Character and Situation • Environmental – contributing to protecting The village of Bosbury is situated approximately 5 and enhancing our natural, built and historic miles north of the market town of Ledbury. It has environment developed over the centuries on the basis of ribbon development along the B road from Ledbury to Worcester. To achieve this, a thoughtful and innovative approach is required, which works more positively; with residents, landowners and Most of the village is within the Bosbury developers taking a continuing interest in the Conservation Area and there are 29 listed future of the village. buildings within that boundary. These heritage assets are largely grade II structures but the Church and Belltower are both separately grade I This is the approach adopted in the Plan and on listed. the basis of this the Parish will look to engage positively with the current and incoming statutory planning processes to guide future At present it is clear when travelling through the development. village that the built development to either side is one property deep. This is due to the views between the buildings which give glimpses of the People living in the Parish of Bosbury appreciate fields beyond. To the north of the village the the special qualities the village of Bosbury and rising land enables the fields to be more its surrounding land possesses. It is a great prominent, but the lack of buildings behind the place to live, and in accommodating housing southern frontage is clear due to the trees and growth it will be vital that the qualities which landscaping as much as being able to see the make Bosbury so distinct and special are crops or grass. protected. Current residents accept that more people will want to come and live in Bosbury and this is important to any thriving and evolving The relationship between the buildings of the community, equally as previous surveys have conservation area and their surrounding shown, there is a need for some sustainable agricultural fields is considered important. The housing for local residents so that families can Forge Bank development constructed some forty continue to live in the village as they have done years ago has given the east edge of the village a for previous generations. different character from the conservation area. This plan is not anti-development and the At present it is clear that the built environment of community understands the need to Bosbury stretches east and west from the Church accommodate housing growth. But there is great with buildings lining the village road and fields concern that new development in Bosbury could beyond. This is the historic setting of the listed erode the very qualities that make the village buildings within the conservation area, and it is special if it is not carefully managed in terms of clearly legible. If the building line were to be its scale and design. Any new layers of growth extended to the south, in a similar way to Forge for the village must create developments of Bank then this legibility would be lost. Any quality which contribute to the character of the proposed future development should therefore not village and which provide local benefit. adversely affect the character and appearance of the conservation area and the views into and out of it, nor indeed detrimentally affect the character, access or amenity of the Forge Bank estate. Bosbury Neighbourhood Plan Strategy The Neighbourhood Plan Policies The heart of the village will be protected as a The following suite of policies has been developed significant heritage asset within the County. to manage the future development of Bosbury in Sustaining local businesses and improving local order to achieve the vision, objectives and facilities will be a key plan priority, however this strategy of the Neighbourhood Plan. Decision will be done in a manner that does not contradict makers and applicants must take into account and the protection of the heart of the village. Local assess the policies as a whole when judging if a community facilities will be supported and proposal would be acceptable. indeed if new enterprise can be brought to the Parish it will be encouraged.