John Slater

Wymondham and Edmondthorpe:

‘The Parish Council and its neighbourhood plan group are to be congratulated on producing a well-written, coherent and evidence-based plan which has grasped the challenge of having to allocate land for additional housing, into what is a picture book English village’.

‘I must highlight and pay tribute to the work done by the team to specifically engage with the 12 to 17-year age-group, which generated a commendable 19 questionnaire responses from that cohort of village residents as well as the work carried out with the pupils of St Peter’s Primary School. This is evidence of genuine attempts to engage with groups who do not normally interface with the planning system’.

‘The Steering Group and the Parish Council are to be congratulated for producing a well-focused and locally distinctive neighbourhood plan. The policies cover the matters which are of importance to the community and address the challenges of accommodating new residential development into the village of Wymondham’.

Timothy Jones

East Langton Neighbourhood Plan:

I commend the Draft NDP for being well written, logical, clear, appropriately concise and intelligible to a reasonably intelligent lay reader with no expertise in town and country planning

Andrew Ashcroft

Clawson, Hose and Harby:

‘The [Consultation] Statement and its various appendices provide a very useful flavour of the issues that were generated during the production of the Plan and how they were incorporated into the submitted Plan. This provides a high degree of assurance’.

‘It is clear that the submitted Plan has been prepared within what was the evolving context of the Local Plan. In doing so it has used up-to-date information and research that has underpinned the emerging Local Plan. This is good practice and reflects key elements in Planning Practice Guidance on this matter’.

‘Having considered all the evidence and representations available as part of the examination I am satisfied that the submitted Plan has had regard to national planning policies and guidance in general terms.  It sets out a positive vision for the future of the plan area within the context of its historic character.  At its heart are a suite of policies that aim to safeguard its character and appearance and to promote sensitive development appropriate to size of the settlements concerned. It includes policies to safeguard the countryside and important ecological sites. It promotes sensitive economic growth and diversification. Table 1 of the Basic Conditions Statement is particularly effective in terms of mapping the Plan policies with the appropriate paragraphs in the NPPF’.

‘I am satisfied that the content and the form of the Plan is fit for purpose.  It is distinctive and proportionate to the Plan area. The wider community and the Parish Council have spent time and energy in identifying the issues and objectives that they wish to be included in their Plan. This sits at the heart of the localism agenda’.

‘The Plan addresses biodiversity in a comprehensive and very impressive way’.

‘This policy sets out a distinctive approach to the protection of woodland, trees and hedges. The supporting text provides helpful evidence and contextual information to the policy. The policy is very well-constructed’.

‘This policy offers support both for additional or enhanced community facilities. It reflects identified community needs. The policy includes four locally distinctive criteria. The policy has a second part that offers support for play areas in different parts of the Plan area. The policy is beautifully-constructed. It meets the basic conditions’.

Melton Borough Council

Local Planning Authority:

‘Firstly, we would like to thank you for your hard work to date. I speak for both of us when I say how incredibly impressed we were with the draft neighbourhood plan, to such an extent that we are even rethinking some Local Plan Policies as we believe your document has handled them so well’.

Newarke and Sherwood

Local Planning Authority:

As an exemplar, the Wymondham and Edmondthorpe Neighbourhood Plan (adopted) in the Borough of Melton includes a 580 word preamble ‘Neighbourhood Plan Policies for the Natural and Historical Environment’ which begins at the prehistoric era, and works through to the Roman, Saxon, Medieval and Industrial age. This outlines the historic settlement pattern and the shape of the surrounding landscape, from the open field system to the C18-C19 enclosure patterns.