A neighbourhood plan for Padbury?

In the December/January edition of the Padbury Pump the Parish Council set out what a neighbourhood plan is and how it is produced.

To recap, a neighbourhood plan:

· sets out planning policies for the neighbourhood area – which, in conjunction with county-wide policies, are used to decide planning applications in the village.

· is written by the local community, the people who know the area, rather than Buckinghamshire Council.

· Is a tool to assist the community to get the right type of development in the right place.

The article included details of three sites in Padbury where developers have already indicated they would like to build at some point in the future.

Although neighbourhood plans have to be initiated by a ‘qualifying body’, which includes a Parish Council, this does not mean that Padbury Parish Council has to or can do all the work. The view of the council in that article was that a neighbourhood plan is a community effort and needs to be produced by the residents of the village. A range of skills is required, for example in drafting surveys, raising funds, report writing, planning law etc. The council considered that a working group of at least 10 people was needed so that all the work did not fall on a few people.

The article called for volunteers and thank you to the two residents who did put their names forward. However, in view of this response, at its February meeting, the council decided that it would take no further action about a neighbourhood plan. If more people do come forward then this can possibly be reconsidered.