UPCOMING EVENTS
NEWS
Annual Parish Audit 2016/17
Notices issued in accordance with Electors’ Rights
Details here
More information here.
Ropley Neighbourhood Plan
February Update
Over the winter the Neighbourhood Plan team has been continuing to work towards completing the policies that will form the basis of the Plan, and this work is now almost complete. This has included undertaking the assessment of the 33 sites submitted for potential additional housing, surveying the structures nominated as heritage assets for protection and identifying green spaces for protection. We have also begun the work of preparing for public consultation and examination of the plan which will precede a village referendum – more on this later.
Policies covering three objectives were presented to the Parish Council in January, and all were approved with minor revisions, meaning that we have now completed policies covering six of the seven plan objectives. The approved policies have been posted on the myropley.org.uk web site.
We have identified 5 green spaces within the village that we are proposing for designation as spaces protected from development. The spaces identified are the fields between Vicarage Lane, Hook Lane and Petersfield Road, the field between Church Street and Church Lane, fields between Ropley House and the recreation ground, pastureland south of School Lane and the area surrounding the village pond. There will be the opportunity to suggest further additions to the green space designations during the forthcoming public consultation.
Work continues on the remaining policies covering the governance of new development, including sites selected for potential future housing. When completed these will be submitted to the Parish Council for approval. The group is also assessing the need in the parish for self-build and affordable housing, which would otherwise be included within EHDC’s Part 3 allocations under the Joint Core Strategy. Once this assessment is complete policies and site allocations will be generated covering this housing class and, once approved, they will be included in the Neighbourhood Plan. This should remove the need for EHDC to allocate any further sites in Ropley for this housing class and thus provide more certainty for the parish on housing numbers.
Finally, the Government has now published its Housing white paper. Initial analysis suggests that as EHDC has an up-to-date local plan together with a 5 year land supply, and that the Neighbourhood plan is proposing to allocate housing sites to cover the needs of the village, we should be protected from any imposition of additional housing beyond the Local Plan Part 2 and Neighbourhood Plan allocations.
The Steering Group is currently estimating that the Plan will be ready for initial public consultation in late Spring 2017 and we will be planning and announcing further public meetings in that timeframe to present and discuss the Plan. We are currently preparing a team of volunteers to help support the public consultation – if you would be interested in helping in this final effort before the plan is completed or in any other way then please either:
- contact the steering group at RopleyNP@outlook.com, or
- come to the open Steering Committee meetings in the small room at the Parish Hall, held on the second Monday of each month at 7.30pm. Meetings will be held on 13th March and 10th April
Ropley Neighbourhood Planning Steering Group
Neighbourhood Planning
The future – in your hands!
