Neighbourhood Plan Development Overview 2015 - 2021

A Unique Opportunity

In the past, decisions about planning were simply made by the government and the local Planning Authority, with Parish Councils having very little influence. This changed and preparing a Neighbourhood Plan gave us a unique opportunity to shape what development is carried out in our locality. It includes:

the preferred location, size and character of new homes
what other development, including infrastructure is appropriate
environmental and sustainability requirements
transportation and vehicular use

Steering Group

A group of volunteers formed the Steering Group to facilitate the development of the Neighbourhood Plan and abided by a Code of Conduct:

Diane Bohm (Chair)
Roger Evans (Vice Chair)
Eric Bohm (Treasurer)
Susan Daenke
Alex Reid
Bob Hessian
Norman Machin
Yasemin Olcay
Mike Finbow

Back left: Eric Bohm, Guy Holland, Roger Evans

Front left: Susan Daenke, Diane Bohm, Alex Reid, Yasemin Olcay

Absent: Norman Machin, Bob Hessian

Joined: Mike Finbow (November 2015), Resigned: Guy Holland (November 2015)

The Stages of Plan Preparation

A Neighbourhood Plan needs to follow a number of stages from inception to adoption by the Planning Authority:

The neighbourhood is defined and a definitive mapprepared showing the extent of the Parish that is covered by the Plan.
Local organisations, residents and businesses are consulted through surveys and consultation meetings, and their views and preferences recorded.
Drafts of the Neighbourhood Plan are prepared setting out the proposals drawn from the results of the consultations and local research, including well documented supporting evidence. A number of drafts are likely to be needed before a final version can be submitted to the Planning Authority.
Once the Neighbourhood Plan is prepared, an independent examiner checks that it meets the basic requirements of a plan and recommends any changes thought necessary.
When any changes have been incorporated by the Planning Authority, the Plan is put to a referendum of residents and businesses in the Parish. If more than 50% of those voting in the referendum approve of the Plan, the Planning Authority will adopt it.

The Task Groups

In order to prepare the Plan, the Steering Group created four sub-groups, or Task Groups, to investigate different issues that the Plan needed to cover. These were:

1. Community Engagement - Alex Reid (replaced by D Bohm 2017)

The tasks for this group included:

Communication with all relevant parties
Liaison with the Parish Council
Liaison with Cherwell District Council (CDC)
Preparation and maintenance of a website, notices and other media
Running village consultation events
Maintaining a consultation record

2. Village Form & Character - Roger Evans

The tasks for this group included:

Assembling base-map data
Analysis of landscape character and urban form
Identifying development options
Producing design guidance for incorporation in the Plan

This group was responsible for producing maps, plans and some of the material for consultation events.

The original maps and other information used to create the exhibition panels can be viewed as PDFs from the following links:

9 historical maps from 1875 to 2005
Village history sheets, prepared by Paula Hessian

The final exhibition panels include extracts on the village character and building materials from Cherwell's Conservation Area Appraisal - Planning Housing and Economy, dated June 2009.

3. Social & Economic Makeup - Susan Daenke

The tasks for this group included:

Data collection and survey
Analysis and forecasts (including commentary) of development options
Analysis of questionnaire responses

We needed to know something about the demographics of the village - age profile, whether working, working from the village or commuting, and also what social or work-related facilities people would like to see in the village.

2011 Census Data

The group reviewed the 2011 Census data for Weston on the Green and drew preliminary conclusions on:

the population and age profile of the village, including comparisons with adjacent villages
house types, housing tenure and household composition
modes of transport to work and the distances travelled

These conclusions are illustrated on the display panels which were available at the village consultation meetings.

Data from the Village Survey - October 2015

The Team analysed some key responses to the village survey questionnaire. From the survey, the following social data and householders' views were obtained:

Number of households
Dwelling type
Number of bedrooms in dwellings
Should we build new houses and why?
Types of housing thought necessary
Types of employment
Ways of travelling to work
Use of village facilities

Analysis was provided in the form of diagrams and supporting data.

Village Survey Update - January 2016

Since the village survey in October 2015, revised data became available on the use of village facilities, specifically on the number of people using the Village Hall. Our October estimate of 776 people was amended to 2,203 since we received more accurate information from the Village Hall Committee.

Also, the second survey took place in January 2016 focusing on the number of children in the village, how many people work from home and the use of village food outlets. The results of this survey were shown on exhibition panels at the February village meetings.

4. Transportation & Highways - Bob Hessian (replaced by E Bohm 2016)

The tasks for this group included:

Traffic survey and forecasts
Liaison with Oxfordshire County Council (highways and Rights of Way officer), Thames Valley Police
Review of best practice traffic calming measures elsewhere
Public transport
Village footpaths and rights of way

It was considered that movement, transportation and character of village streets would need to be an integral part of the Plan.

Traffic Calming Proposals

The Task group has drawn upon suggestions made at the August 2015 public meeting and developed traffic calming proposals for the B430 and Church Road/Church Lane, concentrating on traffic safety improvements, particularly for pedestrians.

These were displayed on the exhibition panels at the October village consultation meetings and can be viewed below as PDF files: