Residents help shape Shipston's Future at Open Day

Over 200 residents answered the call to attend the Neighbourhood Plan Open Day in December, making the most of a vital opportunity to have their say on emerging options.

The Neighbourhood Plan is a community-led development plan intended to guide future development in the town to 2031. Once adopted, it will become part of the planning process for future developments alongside the district council’s Core Strategy, which is due to be adopted by mid 2016. While the focus of the plan is on future development, it also considers the implications of major developments recently approved in the town, one of which includes proposals for a supermarket, petrol station and improved medical centre. The neighbourhood plan will consider the likely impact of these developments on infrastructure and flood risk.  

The informal consultation event consisted of a detailed display showcasing the various issues the Neighbourhood Planning team has been addressing. As well as highlighting key themes within each of the main topics - environment, economy, housing, flooding and infrastructure – residents were invited to consider initial recommendations and record their views.

Members of the team, including residents, town and district councillors were on hand to answer questions and debate options, with feedback from the public added to the display throughout the day. These comments, together with the completed feedback forms will considered by the team as part of the next phase.

Martin Ferrier, town councillor and Neighbourhood Plan volunteer, said: “We were delighted to see so many people at the open day, many of whom took the time to fully engage with the team and give really useful input which will help us shape the next stage of the plan.” 

Deputy Mayor, Ronnie Murphy, said: “I would like to congratulate the Neighbourhood Plan team on such a well run and informative event. It is clear that a great deal of hard work has gone into getting the plan to this stage and it was good to see residents having their say.”

Despite the success of the event, the NP team is very keen to receive a wide range of views and is urging all residents to respond to the household questionnaire which will be arriving with the Midweek newspaper in early February.

To view copies of the draft plan and policies, please visit www.shipstonnp.org or email the team at np@shipstononline.org for more information.