Lanchester Neighbourhood Plan

Please complete the Neighbourhood Plan questionnaire here.

Responses are sought from as many individuals as possible between 1 – 29 February 2016
Lanchester Parish Boundary
Settlement Boundary of Lanchester

Paper copies of the questionnaire can be picked up and returned to the Library, Community Centre and Post Office between 1 – 29 February.

If you have any further questions we are having an open day event on Saturday 20 February between 10am – 12noon at the Methodist Church.

 

Lanchester Parish Council is co-ordinating the preparation of a Neighbourhood Plan which will be a community-led framework for guiding future development, regeneration and conservation over future years. The plan will set out the views of the local community in terms of planning issues such as: how much and what type of new housing may be required, and whether there is a need for new shops, offices, workshops and leisure facilities etc. It can also look at things like green open spaces, play facilities, surgeries, schools and parking – as well as measures to address the heritage assets in the Parish.

A Neighbourhood Plan is a document which will guide development, regeneration and conservation within our Parish over future years. The Neighbourhood Plan will set out the views of our local community in terms of planning issues and will contain a number of planning policies for the Parish. Once adopted Durham County Council will have to consult the Neighbourhood Plan when making planning decisions in our Parish.

A working group has been established to progress the Neighbourhood Plan. The working group includes; Parish Councillors, Lanchester Partnership, Campaign to Protect Rural Lanchester, Durham County Council and members of the community.

The Parish boundary was designated as the geographical area for the Neighbourhood Plan. The area can be viewed HERE.

During January 2015 a questionnaire was distributed in the community. This questionnaire asked some general questions about your likes, dislikes, ideas and concerns about living or working in the Parish. This early community engagement aimed to identify key themes and issues that could be further investigated to develop a Neighbourhood Plan. Completed questionnaires were received which represented views from 450 members of the community. The questionnaire can be viewed HERE.

The results of the questionnaires have been analysed and a display of the results has been compiled. The analysis can be viewed HERE.

This information was displayed in a number of community venues during June 2015. In addition two feedback sessions were organised which representatives from the Neighbourhood Plan Working Group attended.

Members of the Parish Council working group on the Neighbourhood plan were pleased that many residents took the opportunity to view the displays of information gathered in their first questionnaire on current Parish issues and concerns. The group are now developing a more detailed survey which will be sent to all households and be available on line too. A Neighbourhood Plan cannot provide a solution to every problem, but this next survey will be focussed on what a neighbourhood plan can do in four key ways:

PROTECTING – the things which people cherish within the area
IMPROVING –the things within the area which detract from its appeal
PROVIDING – for development and use of land which will best meet the needs and aspirations of the community
MANAGING – by setting out those aspects of new development which need to be carefully managed.

This focus is because a neighbourhood plan is concerned with matters which fall under the town and country planning system. The plan cannot deal with non-planning matters. Many of the issues raised in our first consultation fall outside of this strict definition. These concerns will not be ignored but may well be recorded as supplementary issues to be addressed by negotiation with public bodies or by developing community projects. So issues like parking, traffic management, and maintenance of footpaths and so on are most likely to fall in this category. The protection of open spaces, location and volume of new housing, business expansion and so on are capable of direct planning guidance and will fall into the first category.

Work is ongoing to finalise this questionnaire which will be distributed in February 2016.

If you would like further information about the Lanchester Neighbourhood Plan please contact the Parish Council on 01207 520146