Plenty of support for Neighbourhood Plan
THE people in charge of Ashbourne’s Neighbourhood Plan say the town is very much behind the document, despite a suggestion at a recent district council meeting that it is lacking in public support.
Ashbourne Neighbourhood Plan Group has responded to comments from town and district councillor Sue Bull, who said in a recent district council meeting that she was disappointed a recent consultation only attracted 12 responses.
But the group that put the important document together has pointed out that previous consultations carried out in Ashbourne have received dozens of responses.
The latest round of public consultation on the document, which sets out the community’s priorities in terms of planning, housing infrastructure and other key future developments, was carried out in 2017 and resulted in more than 300 responses, six of which were from organisations, the group has said.
Chairman Darren Archer said: “Ninety six per cent of people responding supported the Neighbourhood Plan. The district council knows this, the town council knows this, and this is all explained clearly in the very comprehensive consultation statement which forms part of the Neighbourhood Plan.
“The Neighbourhood Plan has therefore been constructed on a firm foundation of local community support – much more, in fact, than that expressed for the District Council’s Local Plan.”
The document was compiled on behalf of the town council and submitted to Derbyshire Dales District Council. An initial district councilrun consultation took place in the summer and a separate one began on September 25, involving consultees who had not taken part in the first. This is due to end on Friday.
Throughout the six-week consultation, documents that make up the neighbourhood plan were available to view by appointment in Ashbourne’s visitor centre and also on the district council’s website.
The neighbourhood plan group says any apparent apathy towards the document has been noticed in the current round of consultation, run by the district council, and not the local surveys.
Mr Archer said: “The current public consultation on the neighbourhood plan is practically the first time that the district council has had to do something itself on the plan, rather than depend on the work of the Ashbourne community through the town council and the Ashbourne Neighbourhood Plan Group.
“The Ashbourne Neighbourhood Plan was effectively completed p and passed to Derbyshire ire Dales District Council to start the Regulation 16 prorocess in August 2018.
“The delay in starting the process meant that the district council had to undertake the public consultation in difficult circumstances with the coronavirus out- break.
“The mainly online line digital pubic consultation ultation that the district council uncil decided to use did not help to engage the public in the consultation process.
“This compares with the significant work in the community that the Ashbourne Neighbourhood Plan Group undertook on public consultations, such as two public leaflet drops to every address in town, numerous street consultation sessions and public meetings.
“The Ashbourne Neighbourhood Plan Group and the town council met with the district council’s planning gp policy y manager Mike Hase, who m managed the recent Reg Regulation 16 consultat sultation and advised him what additional local consultati tion should take p place to support his decision to have an on-line digital consultation programme. “However this offer of local community support was never taken up, which may also account for the limited response by the public to the district council’s public consultation.”
The group says that Councillor Sue Bull was right to ask why the district council’s consultation on the Neighbourhood Plan has received limited public response, but this does not indicate that Ashbourne as a community is not behind it.
Mr Archer said: “Perhaps Councillor Sue Bull should ask why the district council delayed the start of the consultation by nearly two years and why they have had to extend the consultation by another six weeks because they failed to consult all the organisations it should have consulted in the normal six-week consultation period.
“The Ashbourne Neighbourhood Plan Group and the town council have asked the district council what went wrong and whether this will have an impact on the consultation procedure but, as yet, we have not had a full answer.
“Fortunately, despite these significant delays in progressing the Ashbourne Neighbourhood Plan, the district council has now agreed to pass the plan on to independent examination by a planning inspector.
“This is great news despite the fact that the formal consultation does not actually finish until November 6.”
A neighbourhood plan is a legal document that can give communities a major say on how their surroundings are shaped in the future.
For Ashbourne, a solid neighbourhood plan could steer support and decisions for the A515 bypass, affordable housing, town centre improvements, increased investment traffic management and employment opportunities.
Mr Archer concluded: “The community must be in no doubt about the significance of this process.
“Once the neighbourhood plan has been adopted, its policies form part of the statutory planning process to be taken into account on future planning applications. So the time has been reached for our Ashbourne community to continue to support the neighbourhood plan.
“Councillor Bull and the other ward councillors need to get behind the neighbourhood plan at public examination.
“Ashbourne Town Council needs to start using the plan as its local planning reference point when considering planning applications. The community needs to press the district council to increase its investment in Ashbourne. Let’s all work together for the common good of Ashbourne.”
Let’s all work together for the common good of Ashbourne.
Darren Archer