Draft Neighbourhood Plan and Policy Maps for Regulation 14 consultation

We have put together a small survey to enable you to tell us what you think.  Please take the time to have a look at the Plan and let us know if you agree or disagree with anything or would like to see changes made

The survey is online at https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/TINP

Closing date of consultation is 19 July 2021

The Plan has been developed over time and with the input of a committee which includes representatives of the local residents associations, Colne Valley Park and councillors.  The work was supported by consultants for their expert input on the scope of what can legitimately be included in our plan and how to address the challenges we identified.

Our neighbourhood plan has had to address a number of significant challenges which make our area unusual if not unique.

Firstly, we have to try and fill the gap left by the recent withdrawal of the chiltern and South Bucks Local Plan in 2020.  This plan contained some proposals for Green Belt land releases in the Parish that we strongly objected to and while it seems likely that  there is little prospect of a new Local Plan being adopted for another four years we can’t pretend that  those proposals may not return.  Our challenge is that, unlike parishes outside the Green Belt, our neighbourhood plan can’t take responsibility for deciding which land is and isn’t developed.

Secondly, we are all aware of the problems in the Parish stem from the extensive use of our local roads by  HGVs.  It is known a large proportion of this traffic is generated by sites outside the Parish and we can’t control development on these sites in our Plan. And in any event, the planning system is limited in what it can do – often it’s more a licensing  or highways matter.

Thirdly, our neighbours in Slough have made clear their ambitions to meet their housing needs by growing their town  into our Parish around Richings Park and Shredding Green in particular.

This will be a decision for Bucks Council in  its new Local Plan and it’s not a fight that a small Parish can win alone. We will oppose this encroachment but our Neighbourhood Plan is limited in its reach. Our challenge in our plan is- how do we make sure future  proposals preserve the distinct identities of our villages?

And finally, many of the major development projects we’re seeing proposed in the Parish – the expansion of  Pinewood, the new Motorway Service Area, minerals extraction, Heathrow Rail Link – are national or  strategic policy matters that neighbourhood plans can’t directly control.

However, we think that there are ways in which our Plan can to some extent face up to these challenges and make a  difference. It can also propose the kinds of policies on design and climate change that most other neighbourhood plans successfully include to improve our communities..

Our recent engagement with the local community through an informal consultation on the draft proposals for addressing these  challenges was very helpful.  It was clear however that there was some misunderstanding about our ability to influence the challenges above and what can and can’t  do about them in our own Neighbourhood Plan.

So, we have put together this short note to help us explain what it is  we’re proposing in this next revised version of the Plan and address these misunderstandings.

Our policies are focused on a small number of key objectives:

• Design, Identity and Heritage – to raise the standards of design within our villages, to protect their distinctive character by not allowing new development to merge them together or with Slough and to properly recognise our local history (Policies IV1 – IV5)
• Traffic and Air Quality – to reduce the harmful amenity, safety and air quality effects of HGVs by encouraging the change of use of traffic generating sites, limiting where new sites will be allowed (Policies IV6 – IV9)
• Community Assets – to protect our valuable village centres, community facilities and urban open spaces from harmful redevelopment (Policies IV10 – IV12)
• Climate Change – to ensure the Parish makes its own contribution to global efforts by maximising the biodiversity, natural flood management and carbon sinking, as well as recreational value of the Colne Valley Regional Park and the number of new zero carbon  buildings (Policies IV13 and IV14)
• Key Development Sites – to shape successful schemes for redeveloping Thorney Business Park, Link Park Heathrow and Thorney Mill Sidings and the Pinewood Studios existing and proposed sites (Policies IV15, IV16 and IV 17)