Vision of the Potton Neighbourhood Plan
As part of our public consultation we carried out a pre-vision questionnaire – a paper-based version at the community events and an alternative online SurveyMonkey option promoted mainly via Facebook. This survey attracted 373 responses (7.6% of the population according to the 2011 census) thus providing a basis upon which to prepare our vision for the Neighbourhood Plan (see Appendix A). The Potton Neighbourhood Plan vision for the next 15 years is:
Potton will remain a small Georgian Market Town with a vibrant market square that has a variety of shops and services that meet the needs of the Town and its residents. There will be Medium Scale, managed, proportionate and uniform growth over the period of the Plan offering suitable and affordable housing and encouraging local businesses. Sustainable development will meet the needs of the Town and its residents and will be in conformity with the CBC Local Plan whilst still retaining Potton’s heritage and green environment.
The majority of the Potton residents accept that there will be development over the next 15 years but that this must be:
- Medium scale – using CBC criteria this represents up to 500 dwellings.
- Managed – the social and community infrastructure must be able to support any new development. There is concern that the current infrastructure will struggle to support the planned 331 dwellings.
- Proportionate – development of 500 dwellings represents an increase of 22.9% compared with the number of households in 2016. The belief is that this is at the upper end of acceptability.
- Uniform growth – development must be phased over the 15 year period and not front-loaded.
- Any development must be sustainable and meet the needs of Potton whilst retaining the Town’s heritage and green infrastructure. ‘Meeting the needs of Potton’ means that the composition of the types of houses in any new development must be in accordance with the conclusions of the Housing Needs Survey carried out by BRCC in September 2014.
Objectives of the Potton Neighbourhood Plan
Using the results of the public consultations and the pre-vision questionnaire, the steering group have identified the following objectives required to deliver the Vision for 2035:
- To support, manage and control future growth in accordance with the Vision.
- To have a comprehensive plan for a sustainable mix of increased residential development which addresses current and future. population requirements and is in conformity with the CBC Local Plan.
- To encourage the development of small and medium sized businesses in Potton to promote local employment.
- To ensure that the community infrastructure meets the needs of the Town and has the capacity to support future growth.
- Leisure facilities will meet the needs of the whole Town, including future growth and emerging leisure needs.
- To maintain and improve Potton’s green infrastructure, open spaces and its ecological environment to protect wildlife.
- To develop a ‘Green Wheel’ network of walks, footpaths and cycle-ways in Potton.
- To ensure that future developments will link in with existing and future footpaths and cycle-ways to encourage pedestrians and cyclists with associated environmental and parking benefits.
- To manage parking throughout the Town.
Policies
The attached is a schematic diagram of the Neighbourhood Plan Vision, Objectives and Policies