Neighbourhood Development Plan Pre-submission Draft 2017–2033 Contents Foreword _______________________________________________________________ 4 1 Introduction ___________________________________________________________ 6 1.1 Background to the Neighbourhood Development Plan _______________________________ 6 1.2 The Neighbourhood Planning process _____________________________________________ 6 1.3 Consultation and engagement ___________________________________________________ 6 1.4 Identifying the need for future housing development. ________________________________ 9 2 A brief history ________________________________________________________ 11 3 Vision and Objectives __________________________________________________ 14 3.1 The Vision for Walton’s journey to 2033 ___________________________________________ 14 3.2 Objectives ___________________________________________________________________ 14 4 Policies ______________________________________________________________ 15 4.1 Heritage and green spaces (HG) _________________________________________________ 16 4.2 Community Facilities (CF) ______________________________________________________ 24 4.3 Transport (T) _________________________________________________________________ 27 4.4 Housing (H) _________________________________________________________________ 30 4.5 Business and employment (BE) __________________________________________________ 37 4.6 Policies Maps ________________________________________________________________ 39 Neighbourhood Development Plan 3 Foreword he history of the Walton Neighbourhood Plan dimensional view on where might some more houses strengthen the sense of community and the opportunities Leeds City Council for their consideration and then on to extends back to 2011 when an early and very go… available to those who choose to live here or work here. an independent examination. In due course the Plan will commendable local effort was researched and come back to you to vote in a referendum, at which point We have heard some very clear messages from you We are particularly grateful for those of you who have made drawn together as a national frontrunner in Neighbourhood a positive result will make our Plan a legal and statutory which have strongly shaped our thinking. You made clear a contribution to the discussions and the consultations – Planning.T The trigger for that work arose from the then new part of the Leeds Local Plan. that this isn’t simply about protecting the status-quo without your input we would have been without a clear legislation around the Localism Bill which became an Act of Walton, it is not about freezing the Walton of today direction. We are also grateful to Ian Mackay at Leeds City Let me finish with a particular thanks to the Steering Group of Parliament in November of that same year. What that Act for the next 15 years. Rather, it is about embarking on a Council for his patience and his consistent support; to David – Chris Johnson, Richard Prudhoe, Teresa Walker, Stephen did was to empower local communities in setting the vision, journey of sustainable development, a better, safer and Gluck, a neighbourhood planning expert who has steered Sharp and Melvyn Wood. They have all given an unstinting the future planning direction and the land use in respect more active community for all ages and a thriving future us through the complexity of the processes; to Abbie effort to create this Plan and the village owes each and of their own communities rather than simply be ‘done to’ over the years to come. Miladinovic, a star who has worked tirelessly on digging out every one of them a debt of gratitude. by broader and less defined national interests. It was an the ‘broader picture’ material and who has made sense of entirely welcome development and Walton was fast off the We have also chosen to append some potential future contextualising the Walton proposition. blocks to lay out a blueprint for its future. projects in line with our objectives. These, like the recent Brodie Clark CBE work on completing the cycle path, will quickly shape the So, we are now in a position to publish this draft and The Walton work stalled in 2014 and was only more recently Neighbourhood Planning Steering Group. packages of delivery of the actual work which derives from to consult on the proposals. Once we have had your (early 2016) taken up again with a small and committed the Plan. That work will fall to the community to progress, as feedback and the feedback from the wider stakeholder Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group leading the process. led and managed by the Parish Council. community, we will finalise the draft and submit it to The earlier work was invaluable and much of that product features as evidence within this draft Plan. You provided us with some clear views on the vision of the Walton future and we have best expressed that vision as: In progressing this work, we have had a number of key aims, The views of the community are paramount – and we have sought to elicit those views by questionnaire, by conversation, through workshops and by ad-hoc email By 2033 Walton will have maintained its exchanges and mail drops. Where the community has unique identity, its beauty and charm as responded, we have listened. well as enjoying an enhanced community We have sought to ensure that our future direction is spirit, resulting from investment in new consistent with the broader Leeds direction. We could and existing facilities. New homes will not, and did not want to be at odds with the principles have attracted new residents as well as and the aims of the City and so we have kept closely in enabling existing residents to remain in touch. the community. Transformed transport The concerns of broader interest groups were not and communications infrastructure will ignored – and so, our consultation went across a have made Walton an even better place really wide range of stakeholders ensuring particular to live and work in than today. collaboration with neighbouring parishes. The Plan was not just about housing development. So, Walton is a beautiful and treasured village with a notable There are many facets to what makes a community and enviable heritage. This Plan seeks to protect, indeed sustainable and good to live in, work in or just visit and enhance, those qualities. It also seeks to build and so our considerations went broader than a simple one- 4 Neighbourhood Development Plan Neighbourhood Development Plan 1 Introduction 1.1 Background to the Neighbourhood A small change to the parish boundary with Thorp Arch Development Plan came into effect in 2015 though this did not affect Walton Neighbourhood Area the approved Neighbourhood Area boundary This Neighbourhood Plan will, in time, form part of for either Parish Council. Map 1 illustrates the the statutory Development Plan for Leeds and it will boundary. It is worth noting our Neighbourhood be used by the City Council to help guide decisions Area borders not only parishes in Leeds but also on planning applications and appeals within the those in North Yorkshire (Harrogate borough). parish of Walton. The Neighbourhood Plan will be Our consultations have properly reflected our operational from the time it is adopted by the City immediate bordering neighbours. Council through to 2033 and build strongly on the work undertaken in 2012/14. Our Plan has now been through several iterations, resulting in this current pre-submission draft 1.2 The Neighbourhood Planning process document which now becomes the subject of a formal 6-week consultation process (with the In April 2012 Walton Parish Council submitted Walton community and a wider set of stakeholders, a formal application for designation of the including the City Council and national agencies). parish as a Neighbourhood Area under part We will then further revise and refine the draft Plan 2 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) and thereafter, submit it to Leeds City Council for Regulations 2012 to Leeds City Council (LCC). This independent examination. Eventually, the final Plan application was subsequently approved and on will come back to the community for voting at a 17th September 2012 the parish of Walton was Parish Boundary referendum to determine that the Plan is accepted Neighbourhood Area designated as a Neighbourhood Area. © Crown copyright and database rights 2016 Ordnance Survey 100019567 Scale 1:18000 @ A3 and may be taken forward into future Leeds Path: L:\CGM\GIS Projects\Neighbourhood Planning Progress\Walton Parish\Walton Proposed Neighbourhood Area Revised.mxd Planning considerations. 1.3 A story of consultation and engagement Historically, consultation and village engagement was a strong feature of the early work. The original Steering Group working in close concert with the Parish Council to ensure that the views of local people were heard and fully considered. Walton Parish Council agreed in September 2011 to develop a Neighbourhood Plan. Eleven Steering Group meetings were held between November 2011 and June 2014. All these meetings were open for villagers to attend. A first draft plan was drawn up in 2012. Steering Group meetings were held regularly and use was made of the local magazine (The Causeway), the website and the village notice board to update on progress. 6 Neighbourhood Development Plan Neighbourhood Development Plan 7 There was a well-advertised open weekend, with Environment and Design Group, and the Policy and A regular feedback and discussion with the Parish out in this Plan, supported by consultation with site