It was great to see so many of you turn out for the Community Fair on 4th February! And REALLY great to hear that so many of you were already aware of the Neighbourhood Plan. Thank you to everyone that stopped by and had a chat with our volunteers. Here is one or our particularly keen volunteers who paced the chilly streets of Bridport to help promote the stand!

WE NEED YOU!

Do you have an interest in local development? Do you think we should be able to influence the type of new homes that are built in the Bridport area and surrounding parishes? Are you comfortable getting complex messages across clearly? If so, our Housing Working Group needs you! Whatever your preferences and strengths, if you have a bit of time to get involved and help out, please get in contact today. 

Well they say Rome wasn’t built in a day and the same can be said for the emerging Neighbourhood Plan for the parishes of Allington, Bradpole, Bothenhampton & Walditch, Bridport and Symondsbury. Volunteers from all walks of life have been extremely busy over the past 18 months, listening to local people, undertaking research and developing draft proposals which will help inform and shape future development and planning decisions in our area through the ‘Vision 2030 Neighbourhood Plan’.

The work isn’t over yet; the Vision 2030 team are out and about again this summer to share information about the process and gather views to find out if we’re on the right track. You can find out where we are going to be via the diary here on our ‘new and improved’ website. The main consultation will be taking place this autumn, where you will be able to see the draft priorities and policies and tell us what you think.

Covering topics as big as housing, environment and heritage, climate change, transport, economy, land use and community, this was never going to be a simple or quick process, but one that is important to get right and our volunteers have done a sterling job so far. Anyone else who is interested in getting involved with the process is always welcome and our fortnightly Steering Group meetings are open to all. Whatever your strengths, whether it is talking to members of the public, gathering figures, helping with publicity, reviewing policies, or even just having a point of view – your time and involvement is going to be valuable to this process, however much of it you are able to give, so do get in touch.

To find out more, have your say and complete our online questionnaire or get in contact, please explore our website or email info@vision-2030.co.uk

This summer has seen the Neighbourhood Plan team out and about at lots of events and fetes across the five parishes. This weekend was the turn of Bucky Doo and at a packed Saturday market, the Neighbourhood plan stand stood out well under its bright yellow gazebo!

The team has more events planned and will be at Bucky Doo again on the 20th August, so make sure you pop down, meet some of the hard working volunteers and have your say on what you want the Neighbourhood Plan to prioritise.

More events can be found in our diary.

Neighbourhood Plan- an opportunity for local residents to shape the future.

'Vision 2030' is the title by which 5 local parishes - Allington, Bradpole, Bothenhampton and Walditch, Bridport and Symondsbury - have decided to cooperate on creating a Neighbourhood Plan for the area in and around Bridport. The Neighbourhood Plan is an opportunity for local people to shape the development and growth of the area and set planning policies to determine planning applications.

A volunteer Steering Group drawn from the whole plan area is leading on the production of the Plan, some of the members shown above.

Phyllida Culpin, Chair of the Steering Group said:

“Last summer people told us what they would like to see the Plan cover and those issues are being looked at in detail by seven working groups of volunteers. The working groups cover Climate Change, Environment and heritage, Housing, Transport, Community Facilities, Economy and Land Use. These groups are putting together an evidence base to show how things are now and also suggesting potential policies for inclusion in the Plan.”

Some of the proposals coming out of the working groups include:

• How to provide more affordable housing for local people.
• Increased environmental initiatives and requirements for new builds
• Protection and enhancement of public transport
• How to protect and support independent high street shops and employment sites
• Identification and protection of important green spaces in the area

Community Consultation on the findings and proposed policies will be carried out in later this year

The Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group will also be out and about at events over the summer with information on the work done so far and what remains to be done.

Phyllida Culpin, Steering Group Chair said that “The Steering Group and Working Groups have done a lot of work and we look forward to meeting people at the events to explain more about the project.

It is more important than ever that the area has its own neighbourhood plan, to allow local people to say what they want to see in this area such as enabling important green spaces to be protected and seeking to ensure that housing and other important services are provided in line with what we need. This will be a Plan that has real teeth and, if approved through a Referendum, will have a major influence on the future development of our area. We still have a lot of work to do and we hope that people will want to come forward to help us in the next stages.

The Bridport Area Neighborhood Plan Steering Group is requesting that local landowners consider the potential for their land in terms of alternative use, potential development or protection.

This initiative is delivered under the terms of the Localism Act 2011, where local residents are able to decide where development should or should not take place, and what type of development would be appropriate.

The Bridport Area Neighborhood Plan, named as 'Vision-2030', is a collaboration between five parishes, and decisions can be made on any land within this collective area which includes; Bradpole, Bothenhampton, Walditch, Symondsbury, Allington, West Bay and Bridport.

The Neighbourhood Plan Working Group; 'Land Use and Location', is currently attempting to establish the greatest opportunities for bringing land into use that would meet local needs in housing, employment, public services, recreation, agriculture, low-carbon energy provision etc.

The process would culminate in the formation of a Neighbourhood Development Plan, which can be more specific to local issues than the wider 'Local Plan' and may include land not previously considered or accepted in the Local Plan..

Landowners and managers of land are invited to come forward and express any interest they may have in bringing their land into alternative use. Interested parties are advised to read the Call for Sites Briefing Notes to be fully aware of constraints before application.

A Call for Sites Application Form and the briefing notes can be obtained from Bridport Town Council offices, Mountfield, or from the Neighborhood Plan website; Vision-2030.co.uk

Further information may be obtained by emailing; info@vision-2030.co.uk

Applications will be considered until March 1^st 2016.

Neighbourhood Plan Update…

 …Working Groups Underway

The Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group has established a number of Working Groups. The Groups will draw up the evidence base for the Neighbourhood Plan and consider policy options under each of the objectives and themes identified as important in consultation.

The Groups work within the remit set out in the following documents:

­              Objectives and Tasks

­              Terms of Reference

­              what the neighbourhood Plan Can and Can’t Influence

The Working Groups started to meet in November 2015 and each Group is convened by a member of the Steering Group. The Groups will be meeting up until the end of April 2016. This provides a summary of their initial work.

Housing - Convenor: Glenn Crawford.

The Group is drawing up a detailed evidence base of Housing need in the Plan area. Tasks being undertaken include:

­              producing questionnaires for Housing Associations, Estate Agents, shops and businesses.

­              researching models of affordable/social housing, and their applicability locally

­

              producing a template for a Housing Needs Assessment

Environment - Convenor: Richard Nicholls

Looking at a range of information including:

­              Parish plans for all the participating parishes

­              National Planning Policy Framework

­              West Dorset Landscape character assessment

­              Environment section of new Local Plan