WETHERBY NEIGHBOURHOOD DEVELOPMENT PLAN Consultation Statement January 2018 0 CONTENTS 1. Introduction 2. Compliance with Neighbourhood Development Plan Regulations 3. Consultation on Neighbourhood Planning 4. A description of the process of how the issues and concerns have been considered 5. Highlights of the key issues that emerged to influence the development of policies in the proposed Neighbourhood Development Plan 6. Conclusion Appendices Appendix 1: Initial Consultation Responses Appendix 2: Results from survey conducted across November & December 2013 Appendix 3: Summary of feedback from young people’s focus groups Appendix 4: Summary of business survey results from February 2014 Appendix 5: Results and feedback from Regulation 14 pre- submission consultation Appendix 6: Weblinks to Wetherby News articles & Facebook posts Table 1: Summary of NDP steering group meetings Table 2: List of statutory consultees 1 1. Introduction Wetherby Town Council are responsible for the production of this Neighbourhood Plan. This is in line with the aims and purposes of neighbourhood planning, as set out in the Localism Act (2011), the National Planning Policy Framework (2012) and Planning Practice Guidance (2014). Wetherby Town Council made the decision to begin the development of a Neighbourhood Development Plan in October 2012. A separate neighbourhood plan steering group (NDPSG) was established following a call for volunteers in January 2013. It was proposed from the outset that the neighbourhood plan boundary – the neighbourhood area - would follow the Town Council boundary. The Town Council’s application underwent the statutory six-week consultation period which allowed people who live, work and conduct business to comment on the application and the area boundary. The Town Council and NDPSG agreed to the Leeds City Council designation in June 2013. A minor amendment to both the Town Council boundary and The neighbourhood area boundary were proposed and consulted upon by Leeds City Council in August 2015. and the modified area is the one used in this Plan. 2. Compliance with Neighbourhood Development Plan Regulations This Consultation Statement has been prepared to fulfil the legal obligations of the Neighbourhood Planning Regulations 2012, Section 15(2). This document outlines the extensive consultation undertaken within the community of Wetherby, i.e. those who live and work in the Town Council area. It includes the further consultations which took place during the pre-submission consultation. Section 15(2) of Part 5 of the Regulations sets out what a Consultation Statement should contain: 1. Details of the people and bodies who were consulted about the proposed Neighbourhood Development Plan; 2. Outlines how they were consulted; 3. Summaries of the main issues and concerns raised by the persons consulted; 4. A description of the process of how the issues and concerns have been considered; 5. Highlights of the key issues that emerged to influence the development of policies in the proposed Neighbourhood Development Plan. This Consultation Statement summarises all statutory and non-statutory consultation undertaken with the community and other relevant statutory bodies and stakeholders in developing the Wetherby Neighbourhood Plan (NDP). In particular it describes how concerns have been addressed and the changes which have been made to the final NDP as a result of statutory pre-submission consultation. A Consultation Evidence File providing a record of all consultation exercises comments and feedback is also available on the NDP website; www.wetherbyneighbourhoodplan.wordpress.com 3 3. Consultation on Neighbourhood Planning Wetherby Neighbourhood Development Plan Consultation Timeline ran from 2012 through to 2017; • July 2012 – Town Council decision taken to create a NDP for Wetherby. • 6th, 7th & 8th December 2012, initial consultation event, advertised widely throughout the town, 400 people attended. Appendix 1 • February 2013, town feedback event presented the results of the initial survey and sought volunteers to join the steering group. • March 2013, invites sent to potential steering group members. • April 2013, inaugural meeting of Wetherby Neighbourhood Development Plan steering group. • July 2013, Wetherby NDP vision statement, aims & objectives & key themes were discussed and agreed by the steering group. All available on website. • 7th August 2013, a further public meeting was held to present progress so far and recruit further volunteers to work on the various sub groups. • November 2013 & December 2013 – survey distributed to every household in Wetherby to gather views on the various themes, aims & objectives of the NDP. Appendix 2. • Focus groups conducted with young people at Wetherby High School, youth councils, sports clubs, primary schools & youth club to ensure their views were captured. These were conducted in parallel to the household survey. Appendix 3. • February 2014, business survey conducted with an extensive range of businesses based in the town. Appendix 4. • Throughout 2014 sub-groups met & engaged with various stakeholders & organisations to seek their views and gather information. • July 2014, the NDP SG met with LCC planners to seek their views and advice on progress so far. • 12th February 2015, NDP steering group gave a presentation to Wetherby U3A to which approximately 50 people attended. • May 2015 consultant appointed to help with preparation of draft plan. • December 2015, housing needs assessment conducted by Re’new. • 12 July 2016, Initial draft plan presented to Wetherby Town Council for approval. • Mid July 2016, draft plan presented to Leeds City Council. • Late January 2017 for 10 weeks, public consultation on draft plan (Regulation 14). Communication circulated to all households, businesses and various statutory and non-statutory stakeholders. A wide variety of advertising took place along with several drop-in events. 750 responses were received. Consultation on Neighbourhood Development Plan. Appendix 5. 4 4. A description of the process of how the issues and concerns have been considered The starting point for the Wetherby NDP was an open event held in Wetherby Town Hall which was extensively advertised and attracted more than 400 visitors over the space of 3 days. The event gave an opportunity for the public to set out their priorities for the future of Wetherby. These initial responses formed the basis of the NDP vision, key themes & policies. Through detailed & thorough research & regular engagement with a variety of stakeholders, initial proposals were put to the community, stakeholders & other consultees in a survey that was delivered to the whole town. Using feedback from the survey & other consultations the NDP steering group refined its policies enabling it to produce a series of draft plans. Prior to the Regulation 14 consultation the draft Plan was submitted to Leeds City Council for informal comments. These helpful observations from the Planning Department were used to further refine policies in particular, prior to the final pre-submission draft Plan being signed off by the NDPSG and Town Council. At the same time LCC provide their Screening Opinion report based upon comments received from the Environment Agency, Historic England and Natural England. The Regulation 14 consultation resulted in representations from the general public, businesses, stakeholders and developers, as well as the Local Authority sector. Further refinement and amendments were made by the steering group based on feedback from the pre-submission consultation and the response of the Steering Group to these comments is noted at Appendix 5. At every stage, the issues, concerns & priorities of the local community & other stakeholders have guided the steering group in the production of the NDP. 5. Highlights of the key issues that emerged to influence the development of policies in the proposed Neighbourhood development plan. The key issues that emerged as priorities in the plan were; • Parking o Long standing issues of parking in the town were frequently highlighted • Roads, Highways & Transport o Inadequate public transport o Infrastructure inadequate to cope with proposed housing growth • Housing & Development o A whole range of issues were identified from more housing to less housing, this area probably presented the widest divergence of views and was therefore the most challenging to deal with. The steering group decided that as the Leeds City Council Core Strategy & Site Allocations processes were running concurrently with the Wetherby NDP it was prudent to focus on housing types & infrastructure needs rather than housing numbers & locations. • Shopping, Town Centre & Supermarkets o Supermarkets were a particularly contentious issue at the beginning of the process as there were several live plans for out of town supermarkets at that time. 5 • Health o The challenges of meeting the needs of a population that is older than the city and national averages with differing long-term health needs were a particular challenge. • Education Provision o Long term secondary school provision & the condition of the current school building were the key priority identified. • Leisure Facilities o The condition of the current leisure facilities in the Town were a priority. Further details on all the issues are available in the various appendices and on the Wetherby NDP website. Conclusion Wetherby Town Council & Wetherby NDP Steering Group believe they have consulted extensively with the community, statutory