Neighbourhood Plan Development Consultations
As part of the process of creating a Neighbourhood Plan, the Parish Council was obliged to consult with all sections of the village community.
Surveys 
The village was circulated with a questionnaire in early September, 2015. It was hoped that information gleaned from the responses would add to the village profile since the 2011 Census. Of the 218 households in the Parish of Weston on the green, 68 returned the questionnaire (a 31% response). An analysis of the answers in the form of diagrams and supporting data can be found under the Social and Economic aspects section above.
Village Meeting 1 - 17th and 22nd October 2015
Village meetings are an opportunity for the Steering Group to present the results of their research and discussions. It is also the chance for the villagers to ask questions of the sub-group teams and to express their own views on the issues that will be included in the Neighbourhood Plan.
The discussions centred around the following broad topics:
- Aspects of the village that are important
- Advantages of reasonable growth of the village
- Concerns about new housing
- Criteria for new housing
- Facilities that should be improved or developed
- Solutions to traffic problems
- The development of businesses, amenities and recreation areas.
The Overview of Village Meeting One 2015 gives some provisional notes from the two meetings in October.
The Post It Note Exercise: Villagers attending the two autumn public consultation events held in the village hall were invited to note concerns and ideas on ‘post-it’ notes and stick them on a large aerial photograph of the village. If other people agreed, they could add a green dot; if they disagreed, they could add a red dot. The same exercise was continued when the aerial map was subsequently moved to the Church. The number of dots on a post-it note indicated the strength of feeling about the item. The table records all the notes left on the map, whether they were endorsed or contradicted with coloured dots or whether there were no dots to indicate a preference either way.
In some cases, there were both green and red stickers on the same post-it note suggesting that the comment is controversial. It should be noted that that notes added late in the process were obviously less likely to attract green/red dots and that the exercise was open to all without any need to declare interests. Neither was there any check as to whether individuals were voting with green/red dots more than once - but the exercise still indicated general preferences!
Village Meeting 2 - 6th and 10th February 2016
At this second series of Village meetings, there are new exhibition panels showing the ideas that have emerged from the October village events and group discussions about the proposals raised to see which are preferred to take forward into the Neighbourhood Plan. The Steering Group members are also on hand to answer any questions you may have.
There are hand-out copies of the exhibition panels with tick boxes for you to indicate which ideas you agree with and which you don't. Exhibition Hand-out 2016
Also available is a draft of the Design Code for new housing in the village, which is mentioned on the exhibition panels and in the hand-outs. This is subject to further consultation, but a copy of the draft is available here.
Feedback from the meetings
We were delighted to have so many responses to the hand-out. Some people were able to complete the exercise on the day, but others wished to consider their answers at home, then submit them later. In all, 74 responses were received. People were invited to give a tick if they agreed with a proposal and a cross if they were against it. If neither a tick or a cross were shown, these responses were classed as abstentions. The consolidated responses from the two meetings can be seen here. For a full description of the proposals, click on the Exhibition Hand-out link above.
The comments that people added to the hand-out have also been recorded and a list of these is shown here.
All these responses were taken into account as the draft Neighbourhood Plan was developed.
Village Meeting 3 - 20th September 2016
This update meeting took place on the evening of Tuesday 20th September 2016 in the village hall. This was the first opportunity to update the village on the progress of the Neighbourhood Plan since February 2016 and it was very well attended.
The proposed content of the Plan was described and the distinction was made between Planning Policies which sit alongside those of Cherwell District Council and Parish Council Objectives which do not relate to planning and land use, such as traffic calming.
Within the Plan, there were 3 proposed housing sites:
- Southfield Farm, which has outline planning permission but where the Parish Council are in discussion about the detailed design.
- Fir Tree Farm, which is an agricultural storage facility where development is proposed in 2 phases over the next 15 years.
- A small extension to Gallosbrook Way for residents wishing to downsize.
The meeting concluded with questions, as a result of which it was agreed to ensure that any new development had sufficient car parking and to explore the possibility of starting a youth club in the village.
Non-Statutory Consultees
The draft Neighbourhood Plan was circulated to the villagers in May 2017 and they were invited to give comments and insights into the work. We had some thoughtful comments and the team reflected on them carefully. Non-Statutory Comments on NP 2018-31 docx
Statutory Consultees
The Statutory Consultee list includes a range of agencies that deal with the natural environment, heritage sites and charitable organisations thats specialise in aspects of human and rural protection. Our neighbouring village and landowners were individually invited to read and comments on our draft plan. Some of the replies were very detailed and all were helpful in taking the work forward. Statutory Consultees Comments and replies.docx
The village was kept informed of the work through the Village News, a magazine published bi-monthly and circulated widely. Below are historical articles in the Village News on the Neighbourhood Plan.