Damian encourages all eligible residents to exercise their vote for the Alton Neighbourhood Plan referendum on the 24th February.
Below is a brief guide to the plan, produced by the neighbourhood plan team, which may help inform decision making:
WHAT DOES THE PLAN DO?
Alton Neighbourhood Plan (NP) has been developed in response to the Government's requirement to allocate a significant number of new homes across the country. Whilst it covers various subjects, it is predominantly a housing allocation plan, created and defined through community engagement with Altonians and approved by the Town Council. It also includes important policies for: Transport, Health and Community, Education and Economic Sustainability & Viability.
In order to have appropriate legal standing the Plan has to be approved by a Referendum before it can take effect; once passed with a “Yes” vote it will become legally enforceable. Should a “No” vote be recorded then the plan will be rejected and the District Council will define an allocation plan for future housing itself.
WHAT IS IN THE PLAN?
• Alton is required to have a minimum of 1,731 new homes over the period 2011 – 2028, of which a minimum of 700 are to be on greenfield sites; whether we may like it or not, this is non-negotiable. Following significant local consultation with the residents of Alton, the Neighbourhood Plan has identified six sites for housing development; these are at Borovere, Treloar, Cadnam Farm, Wilsom Road, Will Hall Farm and Alton Convent School.
• During the course of preparing the Plan, EHDC required that 60 new homes, which they had already pre-allocated on parts of the Treloar site, should be incorporated into the Plan - this was not a new commitment, but was merely regularising an existing approval. Since the initial Plan was prepared, the Examiner further required that all which had previously been pre-allocated as part of the Treloars second phase development and also recent EHDC outline permission approvals on both of the Treloar and Borovere sites should also be included.
• The resultant NP total of 1,027 new homes is made up as follows:
• The final allocation of 1027 in the Plan is made up as follows:
- When the Independent Examiner reported on the legal compliance of the Plan he required the removal two of the Transport policies. Alton Town Council (ATC) intends to replace these by supplementary Action Points for them to pursue with the Highway Authority (Hampshire County Council). The policies relating to car parking, cycling and walking remain substantially as drafted earlier.
- The Recreation policies designate nine valuable open spaces and four Allotment sites as "Local Green Spaces", thus protecting them from future development.
- Health and Education and Economic policies are intended to endure that schools, medical facilities and employment areas keep pace with the increasing population in Alton.
- As well as legally enforceable policies as indicated above Action Points have been included in the plan which cover specific issues and tasks that the Town Council has signed up to pursue.
KEY ISSUES
ATC (on behalf of the people of Alton) and The Department for Communities and Local Government funded this work, which was delivered by volunteers and supported by Consultants who supplied the subject matter expertise
If the NP gets a Yes vote at referendum:
- East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) will not have to complete a housing allocation for Alton parish as the NP serves this function.
- ATC will receive a financial contribution of 25% from all developments under the “Community Infrastructure Levy” (CIL) arrangement.
- All Policies become deliverable by law.
- Alton will have a development plan framework for the future which will protect it from inappropriate, unplanned development.
If the NP gets a No vote at referendum:
- EDHC will have to prepare their own housing allocation for Alton. This may not be the same as that contained in the NP
- ATC will receive a 15% (capped) financial contribution from developments under CIL.
- Southview Rise and Highmead House decision appeals may become challengeable. As one of the points considered by the Inspectors when coming to their decisions was the emerging Neighbourhood Plan. If the Plan is not approved in Referendum, their decisions may be challengeable.
- In the absence of a Plan and until EHDC have prepared a housing allocation for Alton, there will be a policy vacuum for the town. This may give developers an incentive to lodge applications as there would be no NP to prevent this.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CHOOSE FROM THE FOLLOWING
• Read the Plan and/or supporting information on the Town Council Website as follows:
• http://www.alton.gov.uk/AltonTownCouncil/neighbourhood_plan-16530.aspx
• E-mail a question to [email protected]
• Attend the EHDC Community Forum on 26 January 2016 at 6.30pm at Alton Community Centre
• Attend Neighbourhood Plan presentations as follows:
• 08 February 2016, any time between 1500 - 2000 hrs in Alton Assembly Rooms
• 22 February 2016, any time between 1500 - 2000 hrs in Alton Assembly Rooms
REFERENDUM
The Neighbourhood Plan Referendum will be in Alton on 24 February 2016