Buckland Neighbourhood Plan Evidence Base Report 1 Contents Page Map of Neighbourhood Area 3 Why this plan 4 What is the plan about 4 The strategic context for the plan 4 History of Buckland 5 Aims and Objectives to be achieved over the plan period 5 Our Vision for Buckland 6 Introduction to the Neighbourhood Plan 6 Buckland in the sub region 6 Population Age Structure 7 Employment 8 Traffic and Transport 8 Built Environment 9 Building materials 12 Green Spaces and the Natural Environment 12 Projects 13 Appendices 16 2 The Buckland Neighbourhood Area as approved by AVDC © Crown Copyright and database right 2013. Ordnance Survey 10009797. AVDC 3 Why this plan? The Localism Act of 2011 empowered a Parish Council to produce a development plan for the parish, dealing with planning matters of concern to the village, such as where new houses might be built, how many and what type. Using this initiative Buckland Parish Council set the plan in motion with Aylesbury Vale District Council (AVDC) formally recognising Buckland as a ‘Neighbourhood Area’ on 31st January 2014. This document is the submission draft following its pre-submission consultation over a six week period from 6 May 2015 to 17 June 2015, under Regulation 14 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012. Buckland Parish Council considered the responses and made some minor amendments and now submits this version to AVDC for its statutory six week consultation period. It will then be subject to independent examination and put to a referendum of village residents before it is ‘made’ (i.e. adopted). This plan is a Neighbourhood Development Plan and it will have legal status being part of the development plan in determining planning applications when it is finally made. Once it is adopted, AVDC will determine planning applications in the neighbourhood plan area against the Plan’s policies, in consultation with Buckland Parish Council. What is the plan about? This Plan deals with the important land use and environmental qualities of Buckland that were identified in the parish plan. • It sets out a vision for the parish • It lists the issues to be tackled and resolved over the plan period, from 2015 – 2032 • It contains certain policies to protect the environment and to enable appropriate development, to meet needs for homes and jobs • Some housing development might be appropriate, provided it meets the policies in this plan and in the current strategic plan for the whole district, the Aylesbury Vale District Local Plan (AVDLP) The strategic context for the plan The Government has set out various national policies to be followed in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). In addition, the policies in our neighbourhood plan need to conform with the strategic policies set out in the adopted Local Plan. These are the saved policies from the 2004 Aylesbury Vale District Local Plan (ADVLP) which do not conflict with those in the NPPF. Growth in the Vale will be concentrated in the main urban communities. A small community, such as Buckland, there is expected to be limited growth. The parish is a suitable location for small growth to sustain its vitality, but the level needs to be constrained due to poor public transport connections to the nearest town, it’s small size (about 1000 people and 254 homes) and its limited infrastructure (no medical centre, bus route, school, shop). The Parish Council believes that the policies in this Neighbourhood Plan conform to the NPPF and are consistent with the saved policies in the AVDLP. 4 History of Buckland Buckland is a Chilterns strip parish, stretching from Draytonmead Farm in the north to Leylands Farm in the south, approximately half of the land being in the Vale of Aylesbury and the other half in the Chilterns. The lower ground in the Vale was used for winter pasture and the hills for summer grazing. In the Chilterns the parish extended to include Buckland Common. However, during the reorganisation of parish boundaries in the 1934, Buckland Common was transferred to the newly created parish of Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards. Two main roads cross the parish: the B489 Lower Icknield Way and London Road, once Akeman Street. The Upper Icknield Way leads off the London Road at Tring Hill and a sunken land, Dancers End, wanders through the Chilterns up to the Crong and Northill Wood. The A41 Aston Clinton bypass now cuts through a third of Buckland Parish. There are two canals, to the north the Aylesbury Arm of the Grand Union Canal, and to the south the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal. The Wendover Arm was built to provide water from the Chilterns to the main Grand Union Canal system. Buckland Wharf came into being during the construction and operation of the Wendover Arm. The Wendover Arm was built in 1794, but had started leaking by 1802 and had to be closed for repairs. Although it was opened again, it continued to leak and by 1897 the leakage was so great that it was taking water from the main canal system. It was finally closed in 1904 and the section where leakage had occurred was piped. The Wendover Arm is currently being restored and re-watered by volunteers of the Wendover Arm Trust. At the southernmost end of the Parish runs the ancient Ridgeway. Close to the Ridgeway is Grims Ditch, consisting of a fosse and rampart, up to 40ft wide and 30ft deep. It is thought this may have been built by the Belgic tribe who ruled this area in 54 BC. There is evidence of settlement in this area from the Neolithic period to the Bronze and Iron ages, and beyond. During construction of the A41 bypass finds included Roman pottery and Anglo Saxon burials, including the burial of a Saxon princess on Tring Hill. The bypass also revealed early to late Iron Age remains, 900BC – 50 AD, as well as Saxon roundhouses by the Lower Icknield Way. A few years later, during construction of the Arla milk plant next to the Aylesbury Arm canal, a Roman farmstead from the 1st century AD was unearthed, complete with Roman burials. Aims and objectives to be achieved over the plan period When the residents were consulted, the need for the following was identified:- • Facilitate provision of housing for the elderly down-sizers and starter homes for purchase • Balance any growth with the need to protect the parish environment • Protect open spaces • Slow traffic through the village • Make appropriate provision for a changing agricultural economy 5 Our vision for Buckland in 2033 The paragraph below encapsulates the vision for Buckland, in order to achieve the above objectives. It was created from the public comments during the first consultation in January 2014 and presented for comment by residents during the public consultation in March 2015: ‘To maintain a thriving community where the parish grows in keeping with the character of its distinct zones. Local businesses and facilities will have the freedom to grow and develop in accordance with local needs, sustainability and resources. The parish will retain its sense of community by carefully managing change and protecting its setting and surrounding countryside from unsuitable developments’ 6 Introduction to the Neighbourhood Plan Buckland Parish Council started to prepare a Neighbourhood Plan in January 2014 that set out how the residents wished to see the parish develop, whilst retaining it as the pleasant, historical and rural place it is to live. A survey of the parish to obtain residents’ views about the way forward on a wide variety of matters was carried out in January 2014 and the results of this underpinned the proposals in the Neighbourhood Plan. The evidence base for this plan relies, in part, on the consultations and surveys undertaken in 2014, 2015 and data taken from the 2011 census, consultations with the residents about the draft plan policies and proposals as well as discussions with local groups and the local planning authority (AVDC). Buckland in the sub-region Like many rural areas, Buckland has changed considerably over the last 100 years, particularly in the last 70 years. It used to be a self-contained, agricultural community. Now it has a much more mixed population with very few people employed in agriculture and the majority seeking work outside the village. The development of the railways, and more recently the A41 bypass has facilitated easy access to other work centres. Buckland is 20 minutes from the M25 and close to the London commuter stations at Tring and Wendover. The Aylesbury Vale District Local Plan (AVDLP) recognises the pressures of new, sustainable, development, on existing communities, to retain the historical and rural setting and ease pressures on the rural environment. All new development plans must be set in the context of the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) that takes as its starting point a presumption in favour of sustainable development. Set in the context of current District Local Plans and to work in cooperation with District Councils, we have followed this guidance and our plan conforms with the NPPF. The Localism Act 2011 empowers parish councils to produce a development plan for the parish, dealing with planning matters of concern and interest to local residents. Population Trends Using the figures returned in the Housing Survey the older age groups are significantly larger than those in the Vale, giving an average age of residents at 67. However, these results are skewed as only 30% of surveys were returned, mainly from the older age groups. Therefore, we have used the data from the 2011 and 2001 census returns in the table below.