Thank you to all who have responded to the consultation that completed last
Friday. We are pleased to report that we received a higher level of community
input at this stage than many parishes.
The overall result of the process is support for proceeding towards submission of the ES&BG Neighbourhood Plan for the official Regulation 15/16 Consultation/Examination. Once this process is successfully completed, the final plan can go for referendum and will then be fully “live”. Our objective remains for the referendum to be included in the Local Elections on 4th May 2023.
Key points from the consultation:
· Written input was received from 83 residents. 64 support the plan, 8 object to the plan and another 11 only made comments. Of the 8 objections, 6 were from immediate neighbours to the proposed sites. Overall, there was strong support for the plan, for getting it “made” as soon as possible to block unwanted development and recognition that the plan is a good representation of the inputs from the community in the Sep 2021 and May 2022 consultations.
· A proportion of the 63 “support the plan” group expressed some reluctance about the selection of the site for Bishops Green but recognise there is not a deliverable alternative that meets the community vision and they all agree that the imperative is to get the plan approved as soon as possible.
· Basingstoke and Deane are supportive of the draft plan and the fact that we are developing it based on strong community input. They also welcome the fact that the draft plan anticipates and embraces the evidence/potential policies emerging in their Local Plan Update. B&D BC Planning have made a number of suggestions to improve/clarify the plan and this work is now underway.
· Other Statutory Consultees had no comment or made minor points for improvement.
Residents who submitted substantial comments or questions will receive an individual response
In meetings on 11th and 12th October, the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group and the Parish Council have reviewed the outcome of the consultation and agreed to proceed towards formal submission of the plan as soon as possible. There is significant work to be done to update the documents in the light of comments received and to complete some of the extra material that is required. With the support of the working team and our consultants, we are targeting submission to happen before the end of October.
Marian Dain
Chair ES&BG PC and ES&BG NP Steering Group
14th October 2022