Policy Topics
The following broad areas have been identified and are being worked on for development into the Neighbourhood Plan:
- Policy in favour of good local design in keeping with existing community feel
- Policy to protect buildings of historic and cultural importance (to align with the Yateley Society’s work to identify buildings of local importance)
- Policy to protect important local green spaces and gaps
- Policy to encourage design that encourages biodiversity
- Policy in favour of environmental design (e.g. support for solar panels etc)
- Protection and provision of trees, hedges and local planting
- Provision of allotments
- Policy in favour of housing mix, with a bias in favour of smaller, “starter” homes
- Policy in favour of generous provision of affordable housing
- Identification of any sites currently suitable for development
- Policy to provide good sport, leisure and recreational facilities
- Policy to regulate traffic flow to reduce noise, pollution and to enhance safety
- Policy on car parking provision in both residential and business areas
- Policy to improve pedestrian and cycle access – direct and appropriate paths to town facilities
- Policy to encourage sympathetic redevelopment of business premises
- Provision of good infrastructure – telecomms, broadband etc
- Protection of watercourses and avoidance of flood risk
- Reducing carbon emissions in line with Climate Change Act
- Blackbushe Airport site
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Phase 1 – Initial Public Consultation
In the spring of 2018, the group held an initial public consultation to establish the community preferences for the Neighbourhood Plan objectives.
A summary of the responses can now be viewed in the Document Repository.
The Neighbourhood Plan affects everyone in the area, regardless of age. So as part of the initial public consultations, local schools were approached to gather the views of the younger residents of Yateley, Darby Green and Frogmore. Gill Gray is pictured with some of the pupils at Westfields Infant School that provided their views.
Phase 2 – Working groups
The Steering Group set up sub-groups to explore the viability of developing the neighbourhood plan content under 5 key headings:
- Housing and Development
- Getting Around
- Open Space and Wildlife
- Community and Leisure
- Business and Regeneration
For full details, see the Phase 2 Proposal Document in our Document Repository.
For progress reports from the groups, check the following pages:
When the group moved into Phase 3, these 5 sub-groups were replaced by working parties on the policy areas identified in the green section at the top of this page.
Phase 3 – Developing Policies For A Draft Plan
Following on from the Town Meeting on the 14th March 2019 and the Steering Group Meeting on the 4th June 2019, the group decided to move away from the sub-group idea and focus our energies on the principal area of interest for the Neighbourhood Plan – the Housing requirement
For more information, see this document
The group worked closely with local schools to engage young people, especially on Climate Change issues. We are ran a Climate Change poster competition with 7 local schools. There were 2 exhibitions of these posters which were open to the public. Members of the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group were there and to discuss the plan.
The chair and vice chair gave presentations on the Neighbourhood Plan to local groups, like the Yateley Society and Yateley Gardening Club. If you run a local group and would like to hear more, then contact our chair using the Contact Form.
We prepared our second public consultation, with a survey which went out to all residents of Yateley, Darby Green and Frogmore in the spring of 2020. This helped the group assess the policies being worked on against expectations of residents and the plan updated accordingly. Paper copies of the survey were delivered to every household in the Yateley Parish and links to the online version published to this website, our Facebook Page and the Yateley Town Council website. Paper copies were also available in the library and Town Council offices.
The draft plan has been uploaded to the document repository on this website for public consultation.
From March to July 2020, progress was on hold due to the COVID-19 restrictions.
In July 2020, meetings resumed using “virtual” meeting technology.
Phase 4 – Developing Our Draft Into A Formal Plan
July 2020
In conjunction with the Town Council, the Steering Group has agreed upon a restructure in order to improve our governance and efficiency. We have decided to have a Steering Group of reduced size, consisting of the Chair, Vice-chair, the Town Clerk and a Town Council representative – Councillor Graham Cockarill has been nominated to be the YTC representative.
The core Steering Group will manage budgets, any external consultancy work, and ensure appropriate alignment between the volunteer groups.
We will then have two volunteer groups – the first will address the climate change content that has been such a prominent part of our research and discussion in recent months. The Town Council are also setting up a group to look at Climate Change, so we expect these two groups to merge and work as a single group to promote climate change activity in Yateley.
The second group will be a Neighbourhood Plan Volunteer Group, which will look at the specific questions that will need to be covered by the eventual Neighbourhood Plan.
September 2020 – Consultants Engaged
At the Steering Group meeting, KB Planning were chosen to be the expert planning consultants who will help to steer that group to produce a document that will need the particular needs of the planning inspectorate and legal planning policy.
December 2020 – Planning Authority Screening Assessment
Draft plan prepared for the Planning Authority Screening Assessment
Environmental Assessment Screening
Hart District Council completed their screening of the draft plan in January 2010 and reported that the plan does NOT require either a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) or a Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA).To read the resulting report, look at:
Environmental Screening Process Report
10 May To 2 July 2021 – Regulation 14 Public Consultation
As part of the Neighbourhood Plan process, the Steering Group are required to verify that they have met all the requirements of Regulation 14 of The Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012.
Part of these requirements is that there is a public consultation period of at least 6 weeks prior to submission of the Neighbourhood Plan.
The consultation ran from 10 May to 2 July 2021.
The Steering Group are now reviewing all feedback received before published the plan in it’s first formal release.
July to October 2021 – Regulation 14 Public Consultation Feedback Review
After collating all the feedback from the Reg 14 Public Consultation, the Steering Group finalised the draft ready for submission to te Yateley Town Council Planning Committee meeting held on 25 October 2021i
Once approved by the Planning committee, the draft plan was submitted to Hart District Council for their official review.
November 2021 to January 2022- Regulation 16 Public Consultation
In accordance with the regulations, Hart District Council performed a Regulation 16 Public Consultation prior to submission to an independent Examiner, who will assess whether the Plan meets the basic conditions and consider the representations made during the consultation. The Examiner will also recommend whether the Plan should be put to the public referendum.
The Regulation 16 Consultation Phase ran from 24 November 2021 to 12 January 2022.
January to February 2022 – Independent Examination
Hart DC have now passed all the responses from the Regulation 16 Consultation to the Independent Examiner. The responses received can be viewed at the Hart DC website at:
https://www.hart.gov.uk/yateley
The Examiner’s role is to consider all responses and review them in light of the legal framework for neighbourhood plans, the NPPF (National Planning Policy Framework). They will make recommendations to the NPSG (Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group) where they feel that an amendment is needed or suggested.
March 2022 – Independent Examination Conclusion
Planning Inspector’s Conclusions
The Plan is an exceptionally good example of a Neighbourhood Plan. It is beautifully written and presented. It includes a variety of policies and seeks to bring forward positive and sustainable development in the neighbourhood area. It adds value to the policies in the adopted Local Plan.
The Plan has been underpinned by community support and engagement. It is clear that all sections of the community have been engaged in its preparation.
Subject to a series of recommended modifications set out in this report [which the Steering Group accepted], the Plan has met all the necessary legal requirements and should proceed to referendum.
Following the Independent Examination, the Plan was revised and the Referendum Version was presented to Hart DC.
May 2022 – Referendum Version of The Plan Published
The NPSG amended The Plan in accordance with the feedback from the Independent Examiner’s report and issued the final version at the beginning of May 2022.
This version of The Plan is the one used for the referendum, which has now been scheduled for 30 June 2022.
Where the referendum results in a majority vote (over 50% plus 1) in favour of the Neighbourhood Plan, the District Council must agree to ‘make’ the Plan as part of the Local Plan for the District. The Neighbourhood Plan is also used by the Town Council as part of the planning consultation process.
Next Steps
The Referendum on 30 June will determine if there is sufficient local support for Hart DC to formally adopt the Neighbourhood Plan into their Local Plan.