Neighbourhood Plans - 100 referendums

The Neighbourhood Plan process has been running a few years now and the Dept. for Communities and Local Government celebrates the milestone of 100 referendums in England.

I thought it would be interesting to reflect on the "Scores on the Doors" paying particular attention to Sussex.  There are several steps to creating a Neighbourhood Plan, starting with designating an area.  We did this back in 2013 and you can see the map on our website.

 

I've copied the following map from the document talking about the 100 referendums.  It shows the authorities that have the most "made" Neighbourhood Plans. "made" means that they are in force, alongside the district's Local Plan.  Of the top 5, Arun is top (with 14) by a long way and Mid Sussex is doing fairly well (with 4) too.

As far as I know, none of the Wealden area plans have gone to referendum or have been "made".  A bit of quick Googling shows that about half-a-dozen Wealden communities are somewhere in the process ranging from Hellingly, who have just finished consulting on their designated area to Maresfield, who in the words of November's edition of The Fairwarp Echo...

"... have been working on a Neighbourhood Development Plan for the Parish, and have consulted, and have consulted widely on many of the issues over the last two or three years. We are expecting that a final draft will be presented for a six week final consultation in the Parish (and with outside consultees too) within the next month or two. The Plan will include some important policies for our villages which, when the Plan has been examined and approved in a parish-wide referendum, will become part of the statutory planning framework for Maresfield. Key amongst these policies will be those on housing including where in Maresfield the 50 houses should be built."

Maresfield were advised by Maroon, who assisted Uckfield with our consultation event on the 7th of March.

Richard (former Chairman) and Alec Munro of Maroon on March 7th.





Of course, if you consider the thousands of communities there must be in England,  100 isn't that big a number.  The statistics in the document show how many communities are somewhere in the process:

What struck me, reading the 100 referendums document, is that the whole process depends on volunteers. Our group is a little thin at the moment and more hands are really needed.

I am really intrigued by the contrast between Arun and other Sussex districts and I wonder what they are doing right?

The 100 referendums document is here - BEWARE that the links in it are broken so avoid touching active areas because your browser will ponder for a bit before going to a dead page.

Wealden Local Plan Issues and Recommendations September 2015 - Exhibition

This is all rather big and complicated but the Neighbourhood Plan will eventually have to sit alongside it so it is a good idea to have your say.

You can find all the resources here on the Wealden web site

I'm not going through everything. I'm just going to summarize answers to questions I asked at the exhibition.  BEWARE that it is entirely possible that I have mangled answers.

Note: I am adding information I have acquired after the exhibition.
Blue items are further info from Wealden
Orange items are my own reading.

Need for a Plan

Answer (27 Oct): If Wealden doesn't create an acceptable plan within the next couple of years, Central Government will impose one.

What the options etc. mean

(27 Oct)
Issue - that is simple enough it just indicates what we are talking about (e.g. landscape)

Option
Question: What do the numbered options mean?
Answer: They represent everything that has to be considered by law. They are assessed in the Sustainability Assessment (SA) against the objectives listed in the SA.

Preferred option for testing
Question: What does this mean?
Answer: This the option(s) that will be taken forward to the next stage.  The SA shows which have been chosen.

Sustainable Development (p21)

Glossary says: Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

(27 Oct) I asked for  a more precise definition.  Apparently Wealden haven't really gone beyond this. The phrase comes from the Bruntland report. It is possible to find out online what the general meaning is.  The meaning embraces:

• close to public transport
• level of services
• green spaces
• improving public transport.

Housing Market (p31, 8.8)

Question: We seem to be willing to step up and offer more than our fair share of housing if neighbouring areas can't/won't make their share. Why?

Answer  (27 Oct): SHMA (Strategic Housing Market Assessment) => Our housing need from demographic and economic figures.  We have a legal duty to cooperate with our neighbours. However they must prove that they cannot meet their housing need.

Ashdown Forest (p36, 8.32)

Question: Why would Wealden need/want an option that does not seek to protect Ashdown Forest?
Answer  (27 Oct) : Need to consider the possibility while testing but not considered reasonable at the moment.

New Settlement and Large Urban Extension (p43, Fig 4)

Question: What are the numbers for the settlements near Uckfield.
Answer  (27 Oct) : Please see SA.

8 Nov: The SA Part 1, Section 4.6.4 (page 90) says:
Isfield – 5,000 dwellings
West of A22, Uckfield – 4,000 dwellings
North west of A22 – 5,000 dwellings
Maresfield – 5,000 dwellings.

South Wealden Housing Option (p51, Fig 5)

Answer: Preferred option - protects Ashdown Forest.

Multi Centre Housing Option - Towns (p54, Table 7)

Question: What does the 920 against Uckfield mean?
Answer  (27 Oct) : This will be considered if the need to protect Ashdown Forest goes away.
Uckfield will get 920 more houses on top of Ridgewood - NOT CERTAIN - QUESTION WITH WEALDEN.

Question (6 Nov):I want to recheck an answer in case I misunderstood.  Multi Centre Housing Option - Towns (p54, Table 7).  There is a figure of 920 for “Number of additional dwellings (Including Outstanding Core Strategy Growth”).  My understanding is that the 920 is ON TOP of the approximately 1,000 earmarked for the Ridgewood Farm development. Is that correct?
Answer: In regards to your original questions and question 3 in particular regarding the multi centre housing Option, the 920 would be in addition to the 1,000 allocated to Uckfield already. This is because the multi centre housing Option considers housing growth in the District if the issues with the Ashdown Forest did not exist. In that scenario Uckfield could accommodate more housing. We had to include it within the document as although it is not a reasonable option at present, it could be a suggested approach if the Ashdown Forest issues did not exist. The Preferred Option for Testing as you will see does not adopt this approach and does not seek to allocate any more housing in Uckfield above the 1,000 dwellings.

Development Boundary (p90)

Question: It says "incorporation where appropriate of intervening greenfield land." Does this mean the green space would be built on?
Answer  (27 Oct) : No. It means that development comes under the development rules rather than the tougher countryside rules.

Town and Village Centres - Uckfield (p135)

Question (6 Nov): I am looking at the Preferred Option for Testing 13 - Uckfield Town Centre.  It is talking about the "Town Centre Boundary".  Is this the same as the "Town Centre area" shown on Map 28 – Uckfield Town Centre?
Answer (6 Nov): In terms of the “Town Centre Boundary” and the “Town Centre Area” terminology, they do indeed refer to the same thing and it is just a difference in the terminology.

Landscape (p221)

8 Nov: They refer to The Wealden Landscape and Settlement Character Assessment (November 2014)

Dog Gym (p313)

Question: What is it?
Answer (27 Oct) : An outside area with some simple obstacles for exercising dogs.

Consultation Portal

Following up from query at Exhibition
Question (6 Nov): The consultation portal says “Please read the ‘Guidance Notes for Respondents’ in the ‘Supporting Documents’ tab below before making any comments.”
However I cannot see a document of this name in the Supporting Documents
Recheck portal in about a week.

Shoreham - Uckfield Pays its Respects

I love it when the air shows are on in the summer. We get aircraft of all sorts passing our way going to or from the different events. There was no reason to expect that the 22nd of August, 2015, would be different to any other summer Saturday.

Then the news starting filtering through on Twitter. Something had happened. It was possible that a couple of people had died.  Knowing social media's tendency to exaggerate, I did a quick fact check. Several sources, notably BBC Sussex and AirLive.net confirmed that a Hawker Hunter had crashed. Suddenly my feeds were full of images of fire and smoke.

As the hours and days went by, the news got progressively worse. Late on Sunday afternoon a rather forlorn trickle of aircraft passed over. In the end it was established that 11 people died and many were injured.

The people of Shoreham commemorated the victims of this appalling tragedy by placing flowers on Shoreham's old toll bridge.  Soon it was announced that a one minute silence would be held. In Uckfield, people were soon asking questions - Would the maroon be fired? Should people gather in the town?

James Anderson, local councillor and shopkeeper, stepped into the breach and organised the minute's silence. And so more than 100 of us found ourselves just outside Hartfields in the middle of the town waiting for the first maroon. 

People gathering outside Hartfields.

I moved round taking photos as unobtrusively as possible. I was touched to hear a mother explaining to her small children why it was important to stay silent after 'the big bang'.  As the Deputy Mayor, Duncan Bennet gave a poignant explanation of what was happening, a white butterfly flew just above the group of councillors.

Uckfield Town Councillors.

As the first maroon sounded, James Anderson stepped forward and mounted the wreath on the town sign pole.

Wreath provided by staff at Miss Bloomsbury.

Even the clatter of cutlery at the outside tables stopped and some of the diners stood up. For one long minute, we reflected on what had happened and honoured everyone who had been involved with the Shoreham tragedy. When the second maroon sounded it was time for the town to get back to its usual bustling self.

Crowds dispersing.

Uckfield's Elections

This spring, on the 7th of May 2015 Uckfield, like the rest of the UK, is having elections. Uckfield is currently in the Wealden constituency, which nearly always falls to the Conservatives. Barring a major upset, we can reasonably expect to see the Conservative candidate, Nus Gahni, elected on Thursday.  In a slightly surreal twist, the real choice was made in the primary back on the 6th of December 2013. In a golf club. With 400 voters.

This got me wondering if parliamentary elections had always been so predictable. So I started burrowing round to find out what had happened in the past.

Wealden: 1983 - ongoing

Wealden has only existed as a constituency since 1983.  Since then it has had two MPs, both Conservative. The only real change is that the boundary became a lot more wiggly in the 2010 changes.

East Grinstead: 1885 - 1983

Before 1983, Uckfield was part of the East Grinstead constituency. In this time it had eight MPs, seven conservative and one Liberal (1906 to 1910).  To my surprise, from 1955 to 1965, there was a woman MP, Evelyn Emmet.

East Sussex: 1832 - 1885

Before 1885, Constituencies were much larger and had two MPs each. Uckfield was part of East Sussex.  The table listing the MPs over that time shows a little more blue than yellow/orange.

Pas de Change?

So, early on, there was some variety but since 1910 the constituency containing Uckfield has returned only Conservative MPs.  You might be forgiven for thinking nothing has changed in that time - but you would be wrong. Unlike the women of the Edwardian era, I can vote. However, with such predictable results, you might wonder why I bother. 

Here are my reasons:

• First, I find myself remembering the women who died so I could put my cross in a box. 
• I think that much of the Lib Dem vote will get redistributed in an unpredictable way, so all bets are off
• In post election negotiations, the percentage across the UK may well matter.
• I hope the constituency becomes more marginal. That way, they will stop assuming they can walk all over us without consequences.
• Finally, new ways of communicating with candidates, enabled by social media, are emerging. Many of the hopefuls (notably some standing for local elections) are engaged in genuine two-way conversations, which will help everyone understand each other better.  While the parliamentary seat is stuck in the same old groove, I'm hoping that the Uckfield Spring is a sign of a new way of doing politics.