There will be a short extraordinary Parish Council meeting on Tuesday 11th February at 7.05pm at 33, Staploe PE19 5JA. (An extraordinary meeting is just one that is not part of the normal meeting schedule and is called to discuss a specific issue which can’t wait until the next ordinary meeting).
The agenda is below and the public are welcome to attend. Please note that it will be held at 33, Staploe, NOT Wyboston Village Hall as it is expected to be a very short meeting – but see below – residents will have an opportunity to have their say in about a month’s time when we hold a public consultation.
Draft Neighbourhood Plan for Consultation
Please be aware that this meeting is simply to approve a draft of the neighbourhood plan before we send it to Bedford Borough Council for them to check it meets the basic conditions for a Neighbourhood Plan. This check will take about 4 weeks. We then undertake a public consultation for 6 weeks when members of the public will be encouraged to have their say on the draft plan. We may make amendments in response to the consultation feedback and then we will submit the plan to Bedford Borough who will send it off for independent examination which takes about three months. If it passes examination then there will be a referendum and if 50% or more the electorate of the parish vote in favour of the plan then it will be “made” and will be a legal document to be used when determining planning applications in the parish. It is an important document and will enable some valued green spaces to be protected and we hope it will protect the current pattern of ribbon development, which is typically on one side of the road and prevent coalescence of our hamlets with nearby settlements eg. Duloe and Eaton Socon or Staploe and Duloe.
If you have any questions about the plan at this stage please feel free to e-mail the Parish Clerk on clerk@staploe-pc.gov.uk
Frequently asked questions:
- why can’t you protect more green spaces? Green spaces cannot be extensive and should have a justification (eg. wildlife and recreation) in order for them to be designated. They are highly unlikely to be approved by the inspector without the consent of the landowner unless there are compelling reasons for them to be designated. The spaces we have proposed have been assessed by Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity as suitable for designation and the landowners have given their permission.
- why can’t we have strategic gaps all round the hamlets? This would not be permitted as it would effectively be creating green belts around each hamlet. However, we can create strategic gaps between existing, well defined settlements and those nearby to prevent coalescence. We did propose one between Begwary and Colmworth but our planning consultant said Begwary wasn’t sufficiently clearly defined as a settlement to warrant this and the distances between eg. Staploe and Honeydon would be too large.
- will this prevent a large development like Dennybrook or Eaton Bank? No. A large site would be a strategic allocation which would not be governed by Neighbourhood Planning. However, our green spaces would have the same legal protection as green belt land and it is hoped that the strategic gaps will help protect the gap between any new settlement and the existing hamlets by demonstrating that this is a priority for residents.