HOOK HEATH NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

October 19, 2015

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Agenda

• Background• Progress October 2014 to October

2015• The Examiner’s changes• Summary of Policies• Community infrastructure levy

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Background• Initiated April 2012• Application for establishment of Forum May 2013• Forum designated by Woking Borough Council October

2013• Consultation carried out, teams created, policies

developed, plan and supporting documents written and reviewed leading to the formal ‘pre-submission consultation’ October/November 2014

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October 2014 – October 2015• Draft plan submitted to WBC in December 2014• Formal public consultation ran from 2 February to 16 March;

120 representations made of which 117 were supportive• On 21 May WBC agreed to submit the plan to the external

examiner, Chris Collison• At the end of May he produced his report and recommended

that the plan proceed to a local referendum subject to eight modifications being incorporated

• He noted: ‘The Neighbourhood Plan has been produced to a very high standard.’

• The plan was modified and a referendum on the modified plan was held on October 8th

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What were the eight changes?1. In the Local Infrastructure objectives delete “Reduce

the number of incidents of speeding traffic” – not generally related to planning permissions

2. Projects should be transferred to a non-statutory annex to the Neighbourhood Plan

3. In policy BE1• delete “providing sufficient off-street parking but not at the

expense of” and insert “not” – covered by policy BE2• delete “unique” and insert “important” – the term unique is not

adequately explained or justified• Paragraph 3 delete “large” – large is imprecise

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What were the eight changes?4. In policy BE2, delete the provision commencing “In

addition” and insert “All proposals must demonstrate that development will not result in on-road parking to the detriment of highway safety or adverse impact on the character of the area” – improved wording

5. In policy BE3, commence the policy with “Proposals that result in the loss of” and delete “shall be protected” and insert “will not be supported” – improved wording to improve clarity

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What were the eight changes?6. In policy OS1, delete the second paragraph and insert

“Development on land within the plan area should preserve and not significantly detract from the following important views from all locations that are freely accessible to members of the general public within the Neighbourhood Plan area: • Views from south of Hook Heath Road up the escarpment • Views from the Hook Heath Escarpment of the North Downs and

Guildford Cathedral • Views from Hook Heath Road and Pond Road onto adjoining Woking

Golf Course land • Views of highway green verges and adjacent hedgerows”

In the final bullet point description of the footnote to policy OS1 after “arising from” insert “open spaces within the plan area contributing to”. The supporting text and the objectives presented at paragraph 4.2 should be adjusted so that it is clear the policy relates only to land within the Neighbourhood Plan area. – increases clarity and explicitly limits policy to plan area

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What were the eight changes?7. In policy LI1, after “permitted” continue “unless it is

clearly demonstrated through a Transport Assessment that the proposal will not severely adversely affect highway safety or residential amenity” – a blanket ban on new roads is at variance with the core strategy

8. Modification of the general text of the Neighbourhood Plan will be necessary to achieve consistency with the modified policies

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The Referendum• 545 votes (94.5%) were cast in support of the Plan

• 32 votes (5.5%) were cast against

• There were no spoiled papers

• Turnout was 39% of the eligible electorate of 1461

• The Neighbourhood Plan will be adopted by Woking Borough Council at its meeting on 22 October

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What does it mean?

There are six policies that WBC need to take into account when determining planning applications:

1. Design of new developments should be such that they fit into the local surrounding area; important trees and verges should be preserved

2. Larger properties should have at least three off-road parking spaces

3. Specialist accommodation for the elderly should not be replaced (e.g. by flats or houses) unless it can be proven that it is not viable commercially

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What does it mean?

4. Development within the Neighbourhood Area should preserve the amenity value of open spaces and also preserve some specific views: Views from south of Hook Heath Road up the escarpment; Views from the Hook Heath Escarpment of the North Downs

and Guildford Cathedral; Views from Hook Heath Road and Pond Road onto adjoining

Woking Golf Course land; Views of highway green verges and adjacent hedgerows.

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What does it mean?

5. Four areas are designated as local green spaces: The triangle on Wych Hill The three triangular pieces of land at the junction of Hook

Heath Road, Pond Road and Holly Bank Road The triangle at the junction of Green Lanes with Hook Hill

Lane The verges on the South Side of Hook Heath Avenue

6. New roads into the area will be (slightly) more difficult to justify

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Community Infrastructure Levy• The CIL is a charge per square metre on new developments and

replaces the existing S106 system. Communities with a Neighbourhood Plan but without a Parish, Town or Community Council will benefit from 25% of the CIL.

• The charging authority will retain the levy receipts but should engage with the communities where development has taken place and agree with them how best to spend the neighbourhood funding. Charging authorities should set out clearly and transparently their approach to engaging with neighbourhoods using their regular communication tools.

• The use of neighbourhood funds should therefore match priorities expressed by local communities, including priorities set out formally in neighbourhood plans

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ProjectsWhat Responsibility

Improve road markings Surrey County Council Highways Dept.

Address damaged and inappropriate signage

Surrey County Council Highways Dept.

Change Sat-Nav directions Sat-Nav map providersControl speeding and Improve pedestrian safety

Surrey County Council Highways Dept.

Update/improve the footpath and cycleway network and clarify rights of way

Woking Borough Council / Surrey County Council

Improve amenity value of specific areas in the HHNA by ensuring regular maintenance

Woking Borough Council / Surrey County Council

Address problems with drainage and flooding

Surrey County Council Highways Dept.

Create viewing point over North Downs Woking Borough Council

HOOK HEATH NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN