Page 35 - Ickford NP Consultation Report

ICKFORD NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN CONSULTATION REPORT : VISION FOR ICKFORD 35

Annex 3.

Formation of the Neighbourhood
Plan Steering Group.

The Parish Council delegated the responsibility of producing a Neighbourhood
Plan to one of the Council members and a request was put out to the whole
village via the Ickford Informer ( the village newspaper which is delivered to
every house in Ickford on a monthly basis) and via email for people to join a
team. The aim was to have as many people involved in the project as possible who
represented a broad cross-section of the village. In addition information, advice
and support was sort from AVDC Planning Department.
The following is the February article in the Ickford Informer keeping everyone
in the village abreast of the process:

ICKFORD NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN (INP) – January update

As many of you will know by now ( I hope!) We are embarking on preparing a Neighbourhood Plan for Ickford. This plan
will set out the policies in relation to the development and use of land within the Parish, and will be developed in
accordance with the policies within AVDC and the views and opinions of YOU – i.e. residents of Ickford. Once it has
successfully passed a referendum in the Village, it will be used by AVDC in making planning decisions – it is enforceable,
and carries considerable weight in planning terms. A good plan will protect the Village going forward. So we need to
consult widely with everyone. We have an excellent start given the Parish Council questionnaire undertaken last year.
Long Crendon have recently approved their plan, and the Worminghall plan is nearing completion. A grant has been
applied for to meet the costs, and expert advice.

We have now established an excellent group of volunteers to assist with the preparation of the INP, and have held two
meetings – the first involving the Neighbourhood Plan Officer from AVDC who provided the team with an excellent
briefing on the tasks and challenges ahead; and the second as a proper kick off meeting to start the process of allocating
tasks and starting on the information gathering.

We are looking for more volunteers to join us – partially because we want as many people to be involved as possible, we
want to be as representative of the community as we can be, and also because( as we probably by and large represent
a more mature element of the village population) we need some youthful help with social media – Facebook, Twitter and
Instagram in particular; so if anyone in the village would like to join us please do make contact with me.

One of the starting points of the INP is to analyse what we currently have within the Village, and also to try and update
the 2011 census information so as to try and get a more accurate profile of our community. The INP team will shortly be
knocking on doors, going from house to house to build this profile – for example analysing the existing housing stock by
type, age, number of bedrooms, number of occupants etc. We have decided to undertake this part of the exercise this
way, rather than by questionnaire, so that we can also engage with everyone in the village personally and explain what
we are doing, why and answer any questions. Please do co-operate and assist with this as it will ultimately form a major
part of the foundation of the INP.

Each member of the team will spearhead an element of the plan covering such areas as Heritage and the natural
environment; flooding, sewerage and infrastructure generally; businesses, clubs and societies; Community facilities;
Housing; transportation; liaison with neighbouring parishes etc. So all in all it promises to be a far reaching document
which will we hope create a framework for the village for the next 25 years or so.

Our aim is not only to get as many involved as possible, but to keep everyone well informed throughout by regular
updates in the Ickford Informer, social media and so on.

For more information or if you would like to help with this exciting project please contact me martin.armitstead@gmail.com

Martin Armitstead

VISION FOR ICKFORD – NEIGHBOURHOOD DEVELOPMENT PLAN
www.visionforickford.co.uk