What is a Neighbourhood Plan and what can it do?
A Neighbourhood Plan is a planning document that allows people to influence the development of their local area. Neighbourhood plans arose out of the Localism Act 2011. The term is, unfortunately, easily confused with a Local Plan. The North Hertfordshire District Council Local Plan outlines where North Herts has allocated land to build the many new houses central Government demands of it.
The North Herts Local Plan has identified Ickleford as a village where higher levels of development will be supported. It allocates four sites in the parish for housing. Building work for 144 houses has begun at site LS1 in the north of the parish on the border with Lower Stondon. Three sites are allocated in the village for 199 houses in total and are shown on the map here.
North Hertfordshire District Council Local Plan 2011-2031
Proposed Submission Proposals Maps
Our Ickleford Neighbourhood Plan cannot contradict the Local Plan, but can provide much more detail, giving us more say in any development that comes. It can also go beyond housing allocations to look at other aspects of village life.
A Neighbourhood Plan must demonstrate that it is genuinely based on a community’s views and wishes.
If adopted, it becomes part of the statutory development plan for the area and must be considered by planners and developers. This gives it much more legal weight than other initiatives, such as the Parish Plan, although it may follow a similar approach to gaining residents’ opinions.
The national network, Locality, is delivering the Neighbourhood Planning Support Programme for the Government. They have lots of information and resources on their website neighbourhoodplanning.org
They state, in very simple terms, a neighbourhood plan is:
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A document that sets out planning policies for the neighbourhood area – planning policies are used to decide whether to approve planning applications
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Written by the local community, the people who know and love the area, rather than the Local Planning Authority
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A powerful tool to ensure the community gets the right types of development, in the rightplace’
Why Now?
With sites already allocated in Ickleford and building under way in the north of the parish, we can expect planning applications for more large housing developments soon. At the same time, the pandemic has given many of us a greater appreciation of our countryside, green spaces and community. People are more aware than ever of how precious these are and the need to protect them.
How does it work?
Our starting point was to identify the main issues that people care about. We asked:
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What do you like about Ickleford?
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What could we improve?
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What would you like to see in any new development that may come?
Following early feedback, we undertook a household survey to investigate these issues further.
Our engagement painted a picture of the Ickleford residents would like to see in the future. The Plan’s vision statement tries to capture this.
Ickleford will thrive as a strong community retaining its own rural village identity and strong central hub, while maintaining excellent links with surrounding towns for employment and essential services. The needs of the village and parish population will be met, including local facilities, access to the countryside and sustainable transport, while protecting and enhancing the distinct natural and historical heritage in the Parish. Future development will be carried out sensitively to maintain the character of the village, with new housing that is built to high quality standards and meets local need.
This vision led to the Plan aims below:
Neighbourhood Plan Aims
Environment
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The countryside setting of the village will be protected and enhanced, by ensuring separation from the urban edge of Hitchin whilst retaining access to the countryside. Green spaces, views and local wildlife habitats, including rare chalk streams will be maintained and enhanced.
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Parish heritage assets and key public spaces will be protected and enhanced, ensuring that any future development enhances the existing character of the village.
Sustainable Development
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High quality design will be secured in all new development reflecting the character of Ickleford and its rural setting and complying with Ickleford Design Codes.
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Future housing will respond to local housing needs, be of a high standard of design and construction, and fit well into the context of the village in terms of type, mix, scale and character.
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New build housing should be constructed to high energy saving standards and be resource efficient in ways which are appropriate to the existing rural environment.
Traffic and Transport
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The roads in Ickleford will be safe and accessible for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. Improvements to the road network to increase safety and reduce the impact of congestion will be required alongside new development. Beneficial sustainable transport links (including pavements, footpaths, cycle routes and public transport) will be provided and appropriate parking solutions required.
Community
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Existing community facilities, such as the school, village hall, and sports and recreation centre, will be maintained and improved. Their wider use, and development to meet changing needs will be encouraged.
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The range of commercial activities and services in the village will be sustained and enhanced. Economic activity such as working from home and provision of small-scale business units will be encouraged.
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The leisure and recreation opportunities for residents of all ages will be improved by encouraging community activities, and increasing the provision of open spaces and children’s play facilities.
These aims form the basis of the policies, which lie at the heart of the Neighbourhood Plan and are where its power lies. We do not know exactly what weight will be given to them in judging planning applications, as neighbourhood planning is relatively new. However, these policies are the most powerful tools we currently have to protect our neighbourhood against inappropriate development.
The Plan focuses on those areas it can most influence. Unfortunately, there are some issues that fall outside the remit of district and neighbourhood planning. For example, many aspects of the transport system are managed at the County Council level. The Neighbourhood Plan will therefore have little influence on issues such as overall traffic levels and traffic speed on existing roads. We do, however, hope to influence parking and traffic management in new developments, including smaller residential and commercial premises, and look at cycleways and footpaths.
We appreciate the frustration felt over general transport issues and understand the need for concerns to be represented. Feedback has been passed to the Parish Council who are actively seeking improvements through other means.
The Plan drew on the questionnaire results and other feedback, plus local demographic data and information about the area’s character. Two reports were commissioned from infrastructure consulting firm AECOM. These reviewed local housing need and developed design codes for the plan (PDF Downloads, The Design Codes and Housing Needs Assessment). Sally Chapman, a planning consultant, was engaged to bring her expertise to the project and draft the policies (none of the current steering group members are planners).
Following careful review of the pre-submission consultation feedback, changes were made to both the Plan and Design Codes. The Plan was submitted to North Hertfordshire District Council for further (Regulation 16) consultation and assessment by an independent examiner. After further changes, a final version was offered to residents to accept or reject in a referendum on 14th March 2024. The Neighbourhood Plan was accepted at this referendum.
