Agenda item

Minutes:

Members were asked to give consideration to a report to fully ‘make’ (adopt) the Glentworth Neighbourhood Plan (NP) following a successful referendum.

 

Councillor Paul Howitt Cowan, as Local Ward Member, introduced the report. He expressed thanks, to the Group for their hard work, and to the Officers for the support they had offered.

 

As Glentworth‘s Ward Councillor and having been involved with the NP he knew personally the enormous amount of time and effort the Parish Council and its residents had put into producing this plan.   They had held numerous consultation events, undertook character appraisals and identified housing sites.

 

He personally congratulated them on producing a Plan they could be proud of and which in his opinion was a Plan which proposed a series of policies and sought to bring forward positive and sustainable development in the plan area.

 

He considered the key success of the Plan was its very sharp focus on a set of bespoke policies and in combination, they sought to promote sensitive new development that fully respected the character and appearance of the village.

 

The Plan had been underpinned by community support and engagement and the community had been engaged in its preparation in a proportionate way.

 

Representatives from Glentworth Neighbourhood Planning Group were in attendance and prior to Members debating the matter the Chairman invited them to make a short address to Council and present their successful Neighbourhood Plan.

 

Mr John Latham, addressed the meeting and made the following short address: -

 

“Thank you for inviting us here tonight to present our Plan tonight.  Preparing the NP has been a challenging but ultimately worthwhile exercise for the village.

 

Our driver for undertaking this was, as you might expect, concerns about how planning decisions that affect the village would be made in the future and how we could influence these

 

The Plan itself is the tangible outcome, but the process has helped bring residents and neighbours together to talk about their aspirations for Glentworth and what they value.  Our consultation events included newsletters, village meetings and a walkabout that engaged a wide range of residents, young and old - this has also given impetus to other village initiatives for example the redesign of the play park.

 

What emerged from this were the policies and priorities in the Plan

• Design and character of development

• Views

• Local Green spaces

• Green infrastructure

• Community facilities

• Broadband connection

 

These policies have been created in the context of the ‘built’ village, and although it applies to the Parish as a whole we will be looking to the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan (CLLP) to shape development across the whole Parish.  Given the low allocation of growth and extant planning consents we decided against an allocations policy.  We have committed to a review of the Plan, taking into account what might change with the CLLP.

 

Thanks must go to my colleagues (and partners) in the working party - preparing this plan depended on the enthusiastic participation of volunteers, working together through the 3 years it’s taken us to get to this point.   We are also grateful for the support of the Parish Council, including Paul; the team at Community Links especially Janet Clarke; Locality for the financial support that enabled our consultations; the Planning Officers at WLDC Nev, Dan and Luke; and Open Plan who we engaged to guide us through the regulations, especially Simone and James.

 

Most especially we would want to thank the residents of Glentworth for their enthusiastic and positive engagement and participation throughout what has been a long but ultimately worthwhile process - their support was demonstrated by the strength of the Yes vote, with over 98% support in the referendum.”

 

Mr Latham and Mrs Annibal then formally presented the Plan to the Chairman.

 

Members across the floor congratulated the Group on their remarkable achievement.

 

Following a round of applause, it was moved, seconded and duly

 

RESOLVED that the Glentworth Neighbourhood Plan be adopted and made.

 

Supporting documents: