West Berkshire Council's HELAA and HTC's position

1. The HELAA process and what follows from it is one of the main reasons the town resolved to undertake the production of a Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) for Hungerford to ensure future development best suits the needs of the town.
2. The Hungerford NP Team has been working hard to understand the town’s needs since 2018 through survey and consultations. As a result they produced a set of assessment criteria (http://www.hungerford2036.info//NPLibrary/Site%20Assessment%20Criteria%20Published.pdf) with which to analyse further the sites put forward to West Berkshire. 
3. The Hungerford NP Team engaged specialist independent support for the Site Assessment process. Their outline plan for this was included as Appendix 7 in the Full Council’s December 2019 minutes. 
4. West Berks Council set a target for housing to be enabled by the Hungerford Neighbourhood Plan. The minimum number being 55 dwellings.
5. There have been two calls for submission of potential housing sites.
6. HELAA site assessment work and assessment by the Hungerford NP Team against the aims and objectives of the NDP will guide how this can be delivered most acceptably and effectively for the town.
7. There have been and continue to be opportunities for residents and others to provide their feedback and contribute local knowledge into the Hungerford NDP considerations. The Hungerford 2036 Project Team welcomes local insights and information from residents and offers of relevant assistance to help with this work.
8. Once all the elements of the Neighbourhood Development Plan are complete, the residents of Hungerford will be asked in a local referendum whether they support it. If they do, then it and any allocations of land for development that it contains will become a statutory part of the West Berkshire Local Plan.

Hungerford 2036 Neighbourhood Plan history

Hungerford 2036 Questionnaire

We have received a good response to our first questionnaire to gather your views for the development of the Neighbourhood Plan. The deadline for completion of the questionnaire was 31st July. This was our first consultation exercise and we will be giving you feedback and holding a series of workshops throughout the Autumn. The whole point of a Neighbourhood Plan is that it is community-led and that means researched, written and voted on by the people who live in the neighbourhood – that’s you and your neighbours! We are also interested in and are seeking the views of people who visit and work in Hungerford. It will, at the end of the process, have significant influence on the way Hungerford changes once the plan has been sanctioned by a town referendum.

Hungerford 2036 - Shaping our future

Hungerford is launching an exciting project – Hungerford 2036 - to guide the way our town and its surrounding area will evolve.

The Hungerford 2036 Project Team aims to identify how Hungerford wishes to develop over the next 20 years and document this vision in a Neighbourhood Development Plan which will:-

• Conserve and enhance the town and countryside,
• Identify and address challenges facing our area now and in the future,
• Ensure our town and its surrounding area is a thriving, attractive and welcoming place to live, work and visit.

Hungerford 2036 will demand a lot of work from us all and will keep the Project Team busy for at least the next two years. Everyone will be kept informed throughout this time and will be encouraged to contribute their ideas and opinions at various stages. Engagement and help from residents living or working in all parts of the town and its surroundings is vital to the success of the project. Contributions will be welcomed from the entire community, from all backgrounds and age groups.

Once the Plan is ready a local referendum will be held and more than half of those who vote must choose “yes” for the Plan to be finalised. If all goes well, the Plan would then become part of the planning framework for our area. This means it must be used by the local Planning Authority (West Berks) when making decisions.

The Plan will also provide a clear summary of the community’s aspirations and priorities to guide the Town Council and other organisations’ decisions.

More information can be found at www.Hungerford2036.info. If you would like to follow and be kept informed about progress on the project please email claire.barnes@hungerford-TC.gov.uk.

The Project Team is very much looking forward to working on this project and your suggestions, comments and questions will always be welcome - as well as your offers of help!

John Downe,

Chair of Hungerford 2036 Project Team

Neighbourhood Plan Designation Notice

West Berkshire Council has approved our application to designate the Parish of Hungerford as a Neighbourhood area. See the Designation Notice and our application form below or visit http://www.westberks.gov.uk/hungerfordnp.

Designation Notice

Application form

Ideas / Comments Form

At the Annual Town meeting on 21st March, informal forms were available for people to fill in with their ideas/comments to help formulate the Neighbourhood Plan. The responses to the forms collected at the meeting have been collated and a summary is attached.

Summary of responses

A copy of the form is attached - please feel free to complete and return to the Council office.

Ideas/comments form

Neighbourhood Plan Meeting

The Neighbourhood Plan meeting took place on Monday 22nd January and the Council was pleased with the numbers who attended. Thank you to the residents who attended and showed an interest in the Town. A show of hands showed the majority (approx. 80%) of those present were keen to proceed with a Neighbourhood Plan. The Council made the decision at the full Council meeting on the 5th February to proceed in principle with a Neighbourhood Plan. Please click on the link for notes from the meeting on the 22nd January.

NP meeting notes

Please follow the link below for a detailed report on the meeting courtesy of Penny Post:
http://pennypost.org.uk/2018/01/hungerford-town-council-neighbourhood-plan-meeting-22-january-2018/

If you weren’t able to attend the meeting but want to see a video of it, please follow the link below:
https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FPennyPostWB%2Fvideos%2F1017436381729890%2F&sh

Hungerford Town Council is considering whether or not to proceed with a Neighbourhood Plan. Please come along to our meeting on Monday 22nd January 2018 at 7.00pm in the Corn Exchange and put forward your views.

We are pleased to outline below some background information regarding the Neighbourhood Plan; some of this information was taken from Stratfield Mortimer Parish Council whose representative, Pat Wingfield, will be at our meeting on the 22nd.

Our expectations of a Neighbourhood Plan include:

• To influence the number and location of developments in the parish
• To produce more detailed policies than WBC
• Great community involvement with a 'can do' attitude and the opportunity to have a say in what is built
• We realise the time frame will be between 2-3 years and will involve a lot of work
• One of the main benefits is receiving a larger CIL (community infrastructure levy) payment when development takes place. The CIL is increased from 15% to 25% with a Neighbourhood Plan in place and this can be used to fund a number of other non-planning projects

How would we go about it?

• Set up a Steering Group consisting of Councillors and non Councillors who would meet on a regular basis and report monthly to the full Council
• A survey of local residents by questionnaire
• Help required from consultants and we would work closely with WBC
• We expect the cost to be in the region of £15,000
• We would hope for some volunteers to help with exhibitions etc

The following examples show what a Neighbourhood Plan can achieve, other than development: (These are not necessarily what Hungerford residents would wish to do, but Stratfield Mortimer achieved the following):

• A dark village - a policy that any new development does not have street lights
• A policy specifying residential garages must be wide enough for today's cars!
• A site design brief
• Many non-planning projects - e.g. more sports projects
• Space for a school and doctors
• 40% affordable housing