The first Consultation Draft of the Neighbourhood Plan is now complete.
We have spent a year or so gathering data and opinions on all the aspects of the Plan. With the help of an expert we have built the first draft of a Plan based on all this. It is written to a standard planning format in several sections each about a different topic. Every section follows the same format;
1 An introduction arguing why plan policies are needed
2 Plan policies, usually in several topics within each section
3 An explanation and elaboration of how the policies will be applied.
You will probably see that there are many gaps, many areas that are not clear, and possibly some mistakes. We need help to improve it.
Please help by going to the draft download page where you can download either the whole plan or a particular section that is of most interest. Comments can be made by email to info@martockplan.co.uk, or via the contact page of this site.
Or you can publish your comment on any of the comment pages in the menu bar – click the ‘Leave a reply’ link. Please allow day or so for publication (anti-spam)
Andrew Clegg
Very comprehensive and detailed. Although, understandably necessary, in its current form the document is much too big for most people to have to wade through! A précised version with just the text in bold fonts and accompanying maps/diagrams would probably enable more people to feel that they could review it.
Your responses are more likely to increase if people can ‘engage’ with it rather than giving up part way through? If a particular section has a specific interest then they can refer to the full document.
We’ve only lived here for three years so not sure of any errors and in my review didn’t spot any glaring typo’s!
This plan has my full support.
The plan is well thought out and, clearly, the team have gone to great deal of effort to produce this document. I would be happy to support the proposals made thus far.
Re: New Community Facilities12.12. Reference is made to the ‘Our Place’ project, and notes that ‘the project is working hard to reduce dependency….. ‘
The work which continues is now happening under the more general heading of ‘Community Services’ ; the ‘Our Place’ name & logo has been dropped. The main reason for this was a perceived lack of awareness in the community that it was Martock Parish Council who had initiated and were funding this project. It might be worthwhile amending this entry, for clarification.
I understand that the Health Authority and Education Authority have not raised any concerns regarding recent planning applications – this being despite the fact that neither the Martock & South Pertherton Surgery nor the Martock Primary School are able to cope adequately with the current demand. I understand that these issues are strictly outside the scope of the Neighbourhood Plan, but would it be useful for the plan to include something about the assumed capacity of the local Health Service and Education facilities and some assessment of their current ability to achieve this assumed capacity?
Are there, or should there be, plans to increase the Local Health Authority and Education Authority capacities to meet current demand before proceeding with any further substantial increases in Local Housing?