Longwick-Cum-Ilmer Parish Neighbourhood Plan 2017–2033
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Longwick-cum-Ilmer Parish Neighbourhood Plan 2017–2033 CONSULTATION STATEMENT February 2017 A local child’s interpretation of Longwick village’s character today, drawn during one of the consultation workshops Longwick-cum-Ilmer Parish Neighbourhood Plan 2017–2033 CONSULTATION STATEMENT February 2017 Table of Contents 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 Designation of Neighbourhood Plan area ............................................................................... 4 1.2 Consultation Strategy.............................................................................................................. 5 2 The Plan Preparation Process ......................................................................................................... 5 2.1 Background to the Plan Preparation ....................................................................................... 6 2.2 Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group ...................................................................................... 7 3 Initial Community & Business Engagement .................................................................................... 7 4 The Consultation Draft Neighbourhood Plan ................................................................................. 8 5 Responses to the Consultation Questionnaire ............................................................................... 9 6 Representations Received ............................................................................................................ 12 7 Summary of Responses & Amendments....................................................................................... 12 8 The Revised Neighbourhood Plan Process.................................................................................... 13 9 New Site Selection Criteria............................................................................................................ 14 9.1 The Strategy for the Revised Plan ......................................................................................... 16 9.2 Infrastructure Capacity ......................................................................................................... 17 10 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 18 11 Appendices ................................................................................................................................ 19 Longwick-cum-Ilmer Parish Neighbourhood Plan 2017–2033 CONSULTATION STATEMENT 1 Introduction This Consultation Statement supports the Submission Neighbourhood Plan and Sustainability Appraisal in accordance with the Community Engagement Statement and Regulation 14 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) regulations 2012. It contains the following: a) Details of people and organisations consulted about the proposed Neighbourhood Plan b) Details of how they were consulted c) A summary of the main issues and concerns raised through the consultation process, and d) Descriptions of how these issues and concerns have been considered and addressed in the Submission Neighbourhood Plan. The Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 (Localism Act 2011) require a Consultation Statement to set out the consultations undertaken for the Neighbourhood Plan. In accordance with these Regulations and the local planning authority’s guidance on consultation, the preparation of the Longwick-cum-Ilmer Neighbourhood Plan has involved residents, businesses and other organisations with an interest in the Parish in the preparatory stages for the Neighbourhood Plan. The Parish Council has worked closely with Wycombe District Council (WDC) in the preparation of the Plan at all stages. Recent guidance from Department for Communities and Local Government (10 Sept 2013) states that: ‘the consultation statement submitted with the draft Neighbourhood Plan should reveal the quality and effectiveness of the consultation that has informed the Plan proposals.’ This Statement sets out details of events and consultations. It lists the activities in which the local community has been involved and the ongoing work of volunteers. The aim of the consultations in Longwick-cum-Ilmer Parish has been to ensure that there is as widespread as possible an understanding of the reasons for preparing and the content of the Neighbourhood Plan. This Statement demonstrates that there has been extensive community engagement which has kept the community informed of the process, progress and content of the Longwick-cum-Ilmer Neighbourhood Plan, and with the opportunities to shape it. 1.1 Designation of Neighbourhood Plan area The Parish Council made an application for the designation of the Neighbourhood Plan area. The application contained: A map which identified the area to which the area application related; A statement explaining why this area was considered appropriate to be designated as a Neighbourhood Plan area; and A statement that the organisation making the application was a relevant body for the purposes of section 61G of the 1990 Town and Country Planning Act. Designation of the Plan area was approved by Wycombe District Council on 2 March 2015, the application and letter of confirmation are attached at Appendix A. The Parish comprises 566 homes, and the majority - 438 homes - are in Longwick village. 1.2 Consultation Strategy The agreed aims of the Longwick-cum-Ilmer Neighbourhood Plan consultation process were: To involve as many people in the community as possible throughout all consultation stages of the Plan’s development, so that it was informed by the views of local people and other stakeholders from the start; To ensure that consultation events took place at critical points in the process where decisions needed to be made or views canvassed; To engage with as wide a range of people as possible, using a variety of approaches, communication and consultation techniques; To make the notes from the Steering Group meetings available on the Parish Council website; and To ensure that results of consultation were fed back to local people as soon as possible after the consultation events. 2 The Plan Preparation Process The Plan preparation process has been led by Longwick-cum-Ilmer Parish Council, with decisions delegated to its Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group. It has compiled the local evidence base, engaged with the local community, tested the suitability and acceptability of its emerging policies and proposals, and sought support for the proposals. The process of preparing and seeking final adoption of the Neighbourhood Plan is in accordance with the Neighbourhood Plan (General) Regulations 2012 and has been agreed by Longwick-cum-Ilmer Parish Council. The intention of the Parish Council is to submit the Submission Neighbourhood Plan with a view to the Plan being determined as being in general conformity with the existing Development Plan documents and therefore ready for Examination. The process up to Submission has comprised a number of key stages: Collection of baseline evidence and public consultation as part of the Longwick Village Capacity Study, undertaken by Wycombe District Council and its consultants Tibbalds (October 2014); Agreement of the need to prepare a neighbourhood plan by Longwick-cum-Ilmer Parish Council at a public meeting (January 2015); Formation of the Steering Group (February 2015), see Appendix B for Terms of Reference); Consultation with residents, businesses and other stakeholders on the Longwick Village Capacity Study findings and other issues to include in the Neighbourhood Plan (January- June 2015) by the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group; Statutory consultation on the Consultation Draft Plan residents, businesses and other stakeholders (8 June – 21 July 2015) by the Parish Council and consultants TDRC Ltd; Preparation of the Submission Neighbourhood Plan and Sustainability Appraisal and subsequent consultation (Autumn 2015); Withdrawal of the 2015 Submission Neighbourhood Plan in February 2016 on the advice on Wycombe District Council; Decision by the Parish Council to explore the potential of revising the neighbourhood plan (July 2016); Agreement of the basis on which to prepare a new Neighbourhood Plan voted upon at a public meeting and agreed by Longwick-cum-Ilmer Parish Council (November 2016); and Preparation of the Submission Neighbourhood Plan and (January 2017). This document takes into account the representations received on the Consultation and Submission Draft Plan, and the issues that arose through its examination and in the period prior to its re- submission to Wycombe District Council. It is accompanied by a revised Sustainability Appraisal and Basic Conditions Statement. If approved by the District Council, the Neighbourhood Plan will then be subject to an independent Examination. Any recommendations made by the Examiner will be considered by the Parish and District Councils, and the Plan amended again, before being approved for a local referendum. If supported by a majority vote at the referendum, the Neighbourhood Plan will be adopted by Wycombe District Council as planning policy for Longwick-cum-Ilmer Parish. 2.1 Background to the Plan Preparation The findings of the Wycombe District Council Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (Interim Report, SHLAA February 2014) and Draft Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA 2014)