Althorne House Station Road Althorne 16th December 2016 CM3 6DG

Tel – 01621 741174 Email – [email protected]

Reference - Examination of the District Local Development Plan January 2017.

Dear Mrs Copsey

I have some comments to make on the document:- ‘Schedule of Further Matters, Issues and Questions’

Q4 Does Policy S2 actually/specifically allocate the sites listed? Should it be more explicit, for effectiveness?

The sites identified in the table S2(a) to S2(j) do seem to have very specific locations, so the only ones not given locations are :-  Existing commitments across the District (including suitable sites identified in the SHLAA)  Rural Allocations in and Other Villages  Windfall allowance On the latest table that I can find (Maldon_LDP_SA_Update_Sept_2016_Appendix_A.pdf) the allocations in the last two bullet points have been deleted, and the numbers in bullet point one increased.

Could some of the sites identified in the SHLAA be the ones in Rural Allocations, in or near the ‘Other Villages’? If they are, then the sites should be chosen by the Neighbourhood Plans and not as part of the LDP. I believe that the sites for any development in Rural Allocations should be identified by the local Parishes through the Neighbourhood Plans, in consultation with MDC.

Design quality and built environment

Q35 - Policy D1 appears, in effect, to give development plan status to the Council’s adopted parking standards, the Design Guide SPD and to village design statements. Is this appropriate?

The Village Design Statements for Wickham Bishops and are listed under section 3.9 of the Draft LDP as Key Evidence Base Documents. It is not claimed that they have the status of Development Plans.

The paragraph 3.7 of the Draft LDP states:-

3.7 Design principles outlined in neighbourhood plans or VDSs which have been adopted or endorsed by the Council are material considerations in planning decisions and should be considered in the design of new development. These documents provide a key source of local policy interpretation to supplement the LDP. Details of the documents endorsed or adopted are available on the Council’s website. …..i.e. they are Material Considerations and Design Guides. They would however provide an evidence base for the production of Neighbourhood Plans which would support the LDP and these NPs would be Planning Documents I believe.

I have no experience of the production of the VDSs listed above, but the VDS for Althorne, launched in 2015 after the issue of the Draft LDP, was produced by a local community group Althorne Community Together (ACT). This Involved considerable investment of time, finance and effort, including full consultations with parishioners and help and advice from MDC. The Althorne VDS has been adopted by MDC and has already been used as a material consideration in the determination of planning applications. The Neighbourhood Plan for Althorne will be produced by Althorne Parish Council, once the LDP allocations are known, using the VDS as part of its evidence base. I have sent a hard copy of the Althorne VDS booklet to you. The Purpose is described inside the front cover.

I trust that these comments are helpful.

Yours Sincerely

Terry Inkpen.

To:- Mrs Andrea Copsey Examination Office Longcroft Cottage Bentley Road Weeley Heath Clacton-on-Sea Essex CO16 9BX