May the force be with you on May 6 as we take control of our futures
Albert Golding of the Ashbourne Neighbourhood Plan Group introduces a series of weekly articles which will explain the crucial stage Ashbourne’s neighbourhood plan has now reached, as we head towards the day of the referendum on Thursday, May 6.
AS reported in this newspaper on March 24, the Ashbourne Neighbourhood Plan has been endorsed by Derbyshire Dales District Council, so that it can now proceed to a local vote on May 6.
This is the same day as voting for the county council elections as well as a new police commissioner for Derbyshire.
So if you are registered to vote in the area covered by Ashbourne Town Council, you will be given a separate ballot paper to vote in the referendum on the Ashbourne Neighbourhood Plan.
Please make sure that you remember to cast your vote on the Plan Referendum.
If you are registered to receive a postal vote in the local government elections then your vote pack for the referendum will be sent separately.
If after April 29 you have not received your postal vote pack and think you should have, call the Derbyshire Dales election hotline on 01629 761335 to arrange for a replacement to be sent to you. You can use the same number to check that you are registered to vote and apply for a postal vote if you would prefer not to vote at a polling station this year.
The ballot paper will ask : “Do you want Derbyshire Dales District Council to use the neighbourhood plan for Ashbourne to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?”
If the majority vote “yes” the district council must formally adopt the plan and use it to make decisions on planning applications in Ashbourne.
After several years of hard work, frustration and many rounds of public consultation the plan will be approved if supported by a majority of
Ashbourne residents who vote. The plan will give local people a real say in how planning and development will be managed in our town.
It has been prepared by a group of local volunteers – the Ashbourne Neighbourhood Steering Group – in conjunction with Ashbourne Town Council.
It provides a community framework for neighbourhood planning and will have legal force.
For the first time
Ashbourne Town Council will have a statutory role and responsibility in making decisions on planning applications in Ashbourne
– and a real say in what happens in our town.
The plan has just been examined by an independent planning inspector who has made recommendations to both Ashbourne Town Council and the district council to strengthen the plan for community use.
The Examiner said: “I can see that a sustained effort has been put into developing a plan with a vision that Ashbourne’s neighbourhood plan will seek to protect and enhance the identity and environment of Ashbourne, whilst providing significant opportunities for the sustainable growth of the economy and facilities.”
The plan has clear policies for promoting the regeneration of the town centre and for supporting local shops and businesses coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It will protect Ashbourne’s open spaces as well as promoting improvements and investment in public spaces.
It also proposes ways to remove heavy traffic movement through the town centre by making immediate traffic management improvements, building on the temporary Covid-19 measures introduced by the county council.
The plan has economic regeneration as the key driver of future growth in Ashbourne with new high-quality employment and jobs on the Ashbourne Airfield site.
It emphasises the importance of providing new employment opportunities for local people through new employment training initiatives.
All these new opportunities will be made clear in further articles on the Ashbourne Neighbourhood Plan in this paper during April.
Most importantly the Neighbourhood Plan outlines a new way of implementing the plan’s projects and proposals by ensuring that the significant Section 106 funding from new residential development in Ashbourne is spent on much-needed community services such as health, education, sports and leisure facilities as well as improving the town’s environment.
It also calls for a new Strategic Plan for Ashbourne where private sector businesses work with local government and community organisations to bring in new investment to ensure that Ashbourne improves for the benefit of the whole community.
More on this opportunity in the next article.
This is your chance to make positive change happen in Ashbourne by voting for the Ashbourne Neighbourhood Plan at the referendum on May 6.
Make your vote count for local democracy!