Speaking Note to Slide Show Presentation 7/8 th July Slide 1. - PDF document

Speaking Note to Slide Show Presentation 7/8 th July Slide 1. Opening Good Evening/Morning. Thank you for taking time to be here. I am Roy Ramm, the Chairman of the Felsted Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group. I am joined here in the hall today by other members of the group – but more of that and them in a few minutes. Firstly, I would like to thank Lawrence Garside, the Head of this delightful and officially OUTSTANDING school, for providing the facility to us. Education and our schools feature heavily in our Neighbourhood Plan, so it is appropriate we are here today. ________________________________________________________________________ Slide 2. Format The format: To update you about where we are in the Neighbourhood Plan process, about what’ s next for us and then to outline the draft policies that we believe meet your vision for Felsted through the Plan Period to 2037. After that I’ll invite you to circulate around the hall to see the DRAFT policies grouped in sections and manned by a member of the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group. To try to keep timing and let everyone hear the full presentation, I’d be grateful if you would keep any questions you have till the end and even then, I may ask you to deal with those with colleagues. This is your plan, the community’s Plan: NOT the Steering Group’s Plan. There will be post it notes for you to write comments on and we will, as we have done throughout the process, look carefully at those comments and factor them into the final Plan. If you go away and think of something you would have liked to have said, please use the Felsted Neighbourhood Plan website at www.felstednp.org.uk From Tuesday we will run an on-line Smart Survey to see what you think about the policies. And that’s still not the end of it. The final document will be sent to you by U ttlesford District Council and you will be invited to support it in a referendum. _______________________________________________________________________ Slide 3. Basic Principles The Plan cannot prevent ALL development. The law does not allow that. What the Plan is required to do is: ‘ To take a positive approach to sustainable development. ’ Unless we do that, the plan will be rejected by the Uttlesford District Council and the independent examiner. 1

It cannot promote less development than is required by the Uttlesford District Council Local Plan – it can, if we choose, promote more. I’ll speak about our intentions as we move through the presentation, but let me reassure everyone at this early stage this Plan is primarily and overwhelmingly concerned with preserving what we value most. _______________________________________________________________________ Slide 4. Overriding Policies A word about general constraints. We have to comply with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and The Uttlesford Local Plan. The current position with the new proposed Uttlesford Local Plan is very important. You may have heard that the Local Plan was published in DRAFT two weeks ago The Draft states that a total of 44 new homes will be built in the 19 type A villages – of which Felsted is one – during the 15-year Local Plan period. We hope this is correct. So, assuming that the Uttlesford District Council Local Plan is accepted in its current form or with limited amendment, Felsted will be in a good place in respect of defending itself against future unwanted development and the Neighbourhood Plan also builds a strong second line of defence. On the face of it good news! Until the new Uttlesford District Council Local plan has passed inspection, probably late 2018 – to early 2019, we have to deal today with the existing and extant 2005 Uttlesford District Council Local Plan and a situation where Uttelsford District Council has not met its 5-year housing supply and developers are exploiting that to push through development proposals before the new Local Plan becomes effective. And the threat is not just from development in the Parish it comes also from major developments in adjoining or nearby areas. Over 4,000 new homes are now planned to be on our doorstep in development at the West of Braintree, Great Leighs and Boxted Wood Stebbing. _____________________________________________________________________ Slide 5 The Plan Area To be clear the Plan Area is the Parish Boundary – not just the village. And the Plan Period is 2017 -2037. Two full decades. _______________________________________________________________________ Slide 6 20 Years of Change 1997 -2017 In 1997 – just 20 years ago, young fresh-faced Tony Blair won a landslide election victory and this Nokia telephone was the state of the art. Closer to home – just over the Parish boundary at Oakwood Park - later to become Flitch Green – housing development had not even been started. T he Felsted Sugar beet factory was still standing until 2001. And in those two decades the Parish has lost pubs, shops, a garage and much more besides. In the last 20 years, over 200 new homes have been built in Felsted - without any significant community gain or additional amenities to serve the needs of the growing population. _______________________________________________________________________ 2

Slide 7 20 Years of Change 2017 - 2037 This Plan is not just about today. I t’s not about the next 5 years . It is a plan for 20 years, to take us through to the reign of King Charles the lll and possibly into the reign of William V ! (the fifth) Massive economic changes will have taken place. A house that cost £200K in 1997 and which today has increased in value by 362% to £724K might cost £1.9 million by 2037. In the next 20 years, electric vehicles, drones and robots will play an increasing part in our lives. This is not science fiction. The automotive industry predicts t hat by 2030 there will be 10 million ‘self - drive’ cars on our roads. No more picking up the kids – you’ll just send the car and it will go on its own! So, in preparing the Plan we have had to have the future firmly in mind. According to what you have told us in the various consultation exercises we have done so far, we are – in the main - all pretty happy with life in our beautiful rural parish and don’t wan t to see anything much change. But that is not the reality of life. _______________________________________________________________________ Slide 8 About Us To emphasise that let me say, there are now many more of us. Since the Memorial Hall was built in 1930 the population has more than doubled from around 1450 to over 3,000. We’re older and l iving longer than the average of the general population of Uttlesford. In Felsted – we have 45% more people in the 55/64 age group than UDC as a whole. In the 65-74 bracket that percentage is 33% more and in the 75+ age group its 28% more. We are an ageing and growing population. This why we need to do all we can to protect and improve our amenities. _______________________________________________________________________ Slide 9 The Process This is the NP process. Today, we are sharing DRAFT policies based on what you’ve already said you want . We will listen to you. We will modify where necessary and prepare for a pre-submission consultation with Uttlesford District Council. We have to meet Basic Conditions and say how we have consulted. If Uttlesford District Council is broadly supportive of the DRAFT it will be put forward for Independent Examination. If we pass that test, the plan will come to you in a referendum. Now we want to move as quickly as we can towards that referendum because the Neighborhood Plan offers significant protection from unwanted development. _______________________________________________________________________ 3