Should Amble have a Neighbourhood Plan?
One thing that I am sure everyone can agree on, is that Amble has been through a lot of change in the last ten years. Some parts of Amble are unrecognisable from a few years ago, some may think this is a good thing, some may disagree. Change to some degree is inevitable, but the way in which change takes place can be influenced by the community – if we want it.
A lot of the recent development in Amble has taken place in the absence of a local development plan, these plans for Northumberland are now in place. However, a number of areas around Amble (Warkworth, Hauxley etc etc) are going a step further and creating a Neighbourhood Plan that enables the local community to have a greater say in how their towns are developed in the future.
For Amble, the town council is the only organisation that is legally allowed to create a Neighbourhood Plan and whilst they have looked at the issue over the last ten years they are not convinced that there is sufficient interest from the community. Any Neighbourhood Plan would need to be community led – that means a greater input than just councillors would be required. You don’t need to be a planning professional (although that would obviously be useful) to get involved, just have a sensible approach to the process.
A neighbourhood plan puts in place planning policy for a neighbourhood area to guide future development. A neighbourhood plan is about the use and development of land and may contain a vision, aims, planning policies, proposals for improving the area or providing new facilities, or allocation of key sites for specific kinds of development. It may deal with a wide range of social, economic and environmental issues (such as housing, employment, design, heritage and transport) or it may focus on one or two issues only.
Loading ...If you think a Neighbourhood Plan for Amble is a good idea and would like to be involved, please email julia@ambledevelopmenttrust.org.uk or andrew@ambledevelopmenttrust.org.uk
Julia Aston
Andrew Gooding
Amble Development Trust
