Neighbourhood Planning

What we did in 2016

When I produced our resume of progress last year I said I can at last see some light at the
end of the tunnel, eternal optimist that I am! That light is still some way off but it has got a
little nearer during the course of 2016. A key event, external to our own efforts, was the
adoption of the South Worcestershire Development Plan around Easter time 2016.

It may not have been obvious to many of you but a lot has been going on in the background
to try to develop and refine the potential content of the Plan. So once again I would like to
thank my fellow Steering Group members, all of whom have contributed a great deal of their
time, also those residents who have helped by contributing their time, expert knowledge and
insights.

I anticipated that we would achieve the following actions during 2016, but in reality we only
achieved part of this as we have had to engage in substantial discussions and rewording
about some of our policies:

Finish the Policies - DONE

Write the Neighbourhood Plan document DONE (first draft)

Produce a Design Guide DONE (first draft)

Get approval from the community DONE (informal consultation)

STILL OUTSTANDING

Go through a formal consultation process

Get approval from MHDC

Subject the plan to an independent external inspection

Put the plan up for formal community approval via a referendum and finally

Implement it!

The activities we have undertaken include:

January saw the start of drafting the Design Guide.

Spring 2016 we refined the policy wording, informally consulted MHDC, and starting
the drafting of the policies into a form suitable for the Neighbourhood Plan.

Late spring and early summer were devoted to getting the draft Design Guide and
Neighbourhood Plan documents in a form ready for production and publication for the
informal community consultation.

The informal consultation took place from late July until the end of August although
we did accept some late submissions. The consultation focussed upon input from
community groups representing a cross section of parish interests, although the
documents were also made available for all residents to comment upon. The results
of the consultation were published on The Hanleys web site in October.

In the period between the close of the consultation and the end of the year we have
been dealing with a wide range of queries raised by MHDC about our proposed plan.
This was not unexpected but has resulted in a number of clarification discussions
and rewriting of the original draft Neighbourhood Plan.

As we go into 2017 the Neighbourhood Plan is being redrafted, to be followed by the
Design Guide. We also have to produce a Basic Condition Statement and a
Consultation Statement.

As we start 2017 we have a rough timetable for completion of this exercise although some of
the actions and timings are outside of our control.
1. End formal consultation and make appropriate amendments March / April
2. Submit Plan, Design Guide and Statements to MHDC May
3. MHDC review and consult June
4. External assessment July / August
5. Referendum September or later.

Throughout the year the Steering Group has met on numerous occasions, quite often in
workshop format rather than formal meetings, and there have been other working groups
involving community members, particularly during the informal consultation. We have held
meetings with external bodies including the Malvern Hills District Council, WCC Highways
Department and various land owners.

Thank you for your continuing support.

Parish Councillor Bob Lamb

Steering Group Chairman