oneill homer 106 Westbourne Studios 242 Acklam Road Notting Hill London W10 5JJ 020 8977 2175 info@oneillhomer.co.uk www.oneillhomer.co.uk CROWTHORNE NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN NOTE OF ‘IDEAS MEETING’ ON 11 TH OCTOBER INTRODUCTION Oneill Homer (OH) has been appointed by Crowthorne Parish Council (CPC) to advise it on how to progress its Neighbourhood Plan. The purpose of this note is to summarise the discussions of the workshop on the 11 th October 2017 with the project steering group that followed a guided tour of the Parish by the group’s Chairman. As background, we were also provided with a copy of the 2006 Crowthorne Village Design Statement. CONTEXT The basic policy context was explained in respect of the national and local planning framework within which the Neighbourhood Plan must sit. There is some room for manoeuvre but the Plan will have to understand and respond to the status of Crowthorne as a significant area for growth in respect of the strategic allocations at TRL and Broadmoor as well as the environmental constraints presented by the Thames Basin Heath Special Protection Area. When completed within the lifetime of the neighbourhood plan, these strategic allocations will increase the population of the Parish by about 50%. This level of growth combined with proximity to the Thames Basin Heath SPA and the significant area of the Parish occupied by Wellington College all serve to illustrate that to a large extent, and as illustrated by the emerging Bracknell Forest Comprehensive Local Plan and its evidence base, their remains little further space for new development other than redevelopment within the existing built up area. Added to which further development options beyond the parish boundary indicated by the West of Berkshire Spatial Planning Framework (Dec 2016) (either side of the Old Wokingham Road to the north of the parish) and in Wokingham Without may add further pressure on local facilities and services. Page 1/8 oneill homer is the trading name of RCOH Ltd Co Number: 7778989 rd Floor Descartes House 8 Gate Street London WC2A 3HP Registered office address: 3
oneill homer Engaging the local community is an essential feature of neighbourhood planning, both formally and informally, culminating in the referendum before the plan can be adopted by Bracknell Forest Council (BFC). It will therefore be important that the work of the steering group encourages local people to share their expertise and views on the emerging policies, so that it can be confident it will win a majority vote at the referendum. Finally, the group was informed of the purpose of a planning policy to establish how likely or unlikely a future planning application was to be approved. The Plan must therefore confine itself to matters that require planning permission, and its policies must define how much easier or harder it will be for schemes to get permission, than if the Plan did not have a policy (and to therefore rely on national or BFC policies). Otherwise, there is little value in the plan having a policy on such a matter. That said, the Plan may also set out the priorities for investing any Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) that is charged in the Parish, and that must be spent in the Parish (currently a minimum of 25% of the sum charged, once the Plan has been adopted). POLICY IDEAS The key for the neighbourhood plan is therefore to identify the policy space in which the plan can secure the best advantage from growth while ensuring the character of the parish and services and facilities it provides are protected and enhanced. At the meeting, the Steering Group members present were encouraged to share their views about how the parish works now and how they would like the Parish to be in future. This note distils this discussion into potential policy ideas for the Parish Council to pursue in its Neighbourhood Plan. Some of these ideas may fall by the wayside as further work is undertaken to explore them in more detail; other ideas may emerge in due course. This is merely a manageable starting point and the vision and objectives of the Plan will become clearer as the Steering Groups background work progresses. Design and Character There have been some recent examples of poor design of infill or other development in Crowthorne, and it was agreed that the Plan should seek to raise standards of design in future. It was noted that the Parish Council prepared a Village Design Statement (VDS) in 2006 and BFC subsequently prepared a Conservation Area Appraisal for the area bounded by Dukes Page 2/8 oneill homer is the trading name of RCOH Ltd Co Number: 7778989 rd Floor Descartes House 8 Gate Street London WC2A 3HP Registered office address: 3
oneill homer Ride, Waterloo Road and the High Street in 2009. Given the passage of time, it is now appropriate to update the VDS, the updated will inform design policies for the village, and a wider appraisal of the Parish may also refine and update the BFC Character Area Assessment produced in 2010 which appraised four study areas namely Edgcumbe Park, West Crowthorne (including the Conservation Area), Crowthorne Centre and East Crowthorne. Included in this piece of work, or dealt with separately if preferred, there was interest in identifying and assessing local buildings with heritage value that make a positive contribution to the character and sense of place of the village. Identifying such assets may offer some level of local protection if formally adopted on a list of local heritage assets by BFC. Crowthorne High Street and Dukes Ride Station End The High Street and to a lesser extent the parade of shops at Dukes Ride Station End support a good cross section of day to day goods and services within walking distance for many people and which, as the Steering Group noted, means local residents don’t necessarily need to go elsewhere to meet their retail needs. It was also noted that some recent redevelopment in the High Street had not been stitched into the existing character and public realm as well as it might. Crowthorne High Street (and Sandhurst) form part of the Borough’s retail hierarchy described by Policy CS21 of the BFC Core Strategy thus: “These centres will contain comparison shopping of a scale appropriate to their role as small town centres, and convenience shopping to serve their local area.” Dukes Ride Station End is also identified by policy CS21 as a ‘smaller centre’ and both the High Street and Dukes Ride parade are defined within town centre boundaries (18 and 19 on the BFC Sandhurst and Crowthorne Policies Map. The policy confirms retail centres play a valuable role in supporting community spirit and cohesion and the scale and nature of the retail uses will be consistent with the role and function of the centre. Given the likely growth in population it would seem appropriate to consider whether the role and function of the existing High Street particularly will be sufficient to meet future needs and whether design guidance will aid town centre design, infilling and the public realm and protect the special buildings that remain. Page 3/8 oneill homer is the trading name of RCOH Ltd Co Number: 7778989 rd Floor Descartes House 8 Gate Street London WC2A 3HP Registered office address: 3
oneill homer Green Infrastructure The Steering Group agreed that the quality of the environmental setting of the Parish was extremely important. There was interest in the Plan defining and promoting a network of green infrastructure assets – woodland, nature areas, ecological corridors, streams, footpaths, bridleways - given approximately half of the parish is covered by green areas (Crowthorne Wood / Wildmoor Heath) and contains many historic routeways. While such a policy only comes into play where development proposals and the network coincide and hence where real changes can be made, there is likely to be value in defining the network for local people and landowners anyway. This would, in part, update the section on ‘Nature’ in the VDS. The ‘greenness’ of the parish is one of its key features. There are a number of green spaces within the parish that the Group may wish secure as ‘Local Green Spaces’ if they don’t currently have adequate protection using the tests set out in paragraph 77 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Community Facilities The village is reasonably well served by facilities and services such retains many services such as the Heath Hill Surgery, three dental practices and amenities including the Morgan Recreation Ground and play area. The town is also served by three state schools, Crowthorne (CofE) Primary School, Wildmoor Heath School and Edgebarrow Secondary School. Local schools take pupils from Wokingham, and lie within the Crowthorne and Sandhurst Pupil Planning Area and are likely to come under increased pressure in forthcoming years. The BFC School Places Plan (2016 – 2021) includes a forecast of school place pressures in the parish. In addition to the above, Wellington College provides a range of facilities that are accessible the community. Employment The Bracknell Forest Joint Strategic Needs Assessment for Crowthorne (2013) states that about 70% of the population of Crowthorne (aged between 16 and 74) are in employment of which just over half are employed in managerial/professional/technical occupations. Most people however work outside the Parish which contributes to pressure on the highway network at peak times, and while there is B1 type employment space available within Page 4/8 oneill homer is the trading name of RCOH Ltd Co Number: 7778989 rd Floor Descartes House 8 Gate Street London WC2A 3HP Registered office address: 3
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