Since the Consultation Survey the a planning group has been working on the first draft of the Warmington Neighbourhood Plan based on the results. An initial draft was made in conjunction with our planning consultants Kirkwells and this was then circulated for comment and amendment. However during this period a number of planning related issues came together to cause the group to delay work. The primary cause was the publication of a revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which governs all planning policy in England. In addition, planning applications related to the gravel extraction, the sale of a large site in Spinney Close, the demise of NCC and the forecast merging of ENC into a North Northants Unitary Authority and more details about the emerging Local Plan also needed to be considered.
A First Draft Plan has now been made and approved by the Parish Council. This draft is for consultation and comment by any and all interested parties within the parish. The document itself draws on the survey results and the major planning documents which it must take note of – the NPPF, the North Northants Joint Core Strategy (NNJCS) and the ENC Local Plan – known as the RNOTP (Rural North Oundle and Thrapston plan), it also refers to the ENC emerging Local Plan Part 2 which it will have to work within after this is finalised. The plan itself contains a number of Policies which would become statutory if approved as well as a number of Aspirations. These are not statutory, as they concern matters that Neighbourhood Plans cannot deal with, but instead direct the PC to take action on behalf of the community. The Aspirations are also listed at an Appendix to the plan.
A further Appendix is a Design Code that defines how planning proposals should deal with the design of buildings within Warmington. This is derived from the Village Design Statement but has more weight as it now forms part of a statutory policy.
A third Appendix deals with Open Space within the village and its immediate surroundings. The NPPF allows us to specify Local Green Spaces (LGS) that thereby have protection similar to the Green Belt. However, we are only allowed to designate them if they comply with certain criteria and are supported by evidence of use or value to the community. WE NEED YOUR HELP HERE – tell us which Open Spaces you think we should designate.
We have also attempted to define other open space areas that were previously listed as important or were proposed by people in the survey but which can’t qualify as LGS. Again we need your comments about which of these you think are important.
There are two other appendices – the existing Village Design Statement (which needs updating but might be replaced by a Conservation Area Appraisal), and the Consultation Survey results – both these are for background evidence.
The main document and its appendices are available to download or read online here:
Warmington Neighbourhood Plan First Draft
If you have comments then you can email them to us but we also hope that you can spare the time to complete some online questionnaires about the plan and the open spaces and views that you value and would like to protect.
The questionnaire about the plan Policies just asks Yes/No questions about whether you support the draft Policies in the plan – it should not take long to do and you can refer to the plan itself if you need any more details. If you’ve only got time to do one survey then please do this one.
There is a similar Yes/No questionnaire about the Aspirations in the Plan.
There are 2 questionnaires about SPACES and VIEWS.
The LANDSCAPE VIEWS questionnaire is simple and quick.
The SPACES questionnaire is longer and more detailed but we do need your input if we are to include space for protection in the WNP – if you are pushed for time then just comment on the spaces that you are most concerned about – this SPACES questionnaire is probably next in importance to the Policies survey.
The questionnaires are available here – click on them to open:
Finally we plan to have a workshop/meeting where you can see the full draft plan, ask questions and make comments. This will take place in the Church on 17th November and the displays will be available to view on the 18th as well. Forms will be available on both days for written comments.