In 2019 the Parish Council decided to prepare a Neighbourhood Plan to cover the whole of Great Bardfield parish. Since that time a small group of volunteers and Parish Councillors, assisted by professional consultants, have been working to gather information and views to inform the content of the Plan.
What is a Neighbourhood Plan?
It’s a Plan agreed by local people to decide how their parish should develop - or not - over the next decade or so. Whether the Plan is approved will ultimately be decided at a Parish Referendum when, if a majority of residents that vote agree with the Plan, Braintree District Council will be required to adopt it.
When complete, it sits alongside the Local Plan for Braintree and national planning policies and is used by the District Council when making decisions on planning applications.
Submission of Plan to Braintree District Council
We’ve now reached a major milestone in preparing the Plan and it has been submitted to Braintree District Council. They will be carrying out further public consultation in due course, before the Draft Plan is examined by an Independent Neighbourhood Examiner. Details of the consultation will appear when known. At the conclusion of the examination, and subject to the Examiner’s agreement, the Plan will be the subject of a Parish Referendum. If the majority of those that vote are in favour of the Plan, it will be used by the District Council when making decisions on planning applications.
The documents submitted to the District Council are:
The Submission Draft Neighbourhood Plan
The Basic Conditions Statement
The Consultation Statement
The Strategic Environmental Assessment and Habitats Regulations Assessment Screening Opinion
The Supporting Documents listed below have also been submitted.
Pre-Submission Consultation on Draft Neighbourhood Plan
Public consultation on the “Pre-Submission Draft Plan took place in June and July 2024. The comments received are set bout in the Consultation Statement submitted to the District Council.
We distributed a summary leaflet to every household in the Parish and that version of the Plan can be downloaded below.
If you don’t have access to the internet, paper copies will be available to borrow for a short period from:
Supporting Documents
In addition to the Plan itself, there are a number of supporting documents referred to in the Plan. These can be found below (each opens in a new window):
Great Bardfield Housing Needs Assessment – April 2020
Great Bardfield Design Guidance and Codes – November 2021
Great Bardfield Landscape Assessment Study – August 2022
Great Bardfield Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan (Braintree District Council) – July 2020
Great Bardfield Village Design Statement
Great Bardfield Local Green Spaces Assessment – June 2024
Great Bardfield Household Survey – Summer 2022
LOOKING AHEAD
Once the consultation ends, all comments received will be reviewed and the Plan will be amended as necessary. It will then be submitted to Braintree District Council who will carry out a second round of consultation before the Plan is assessed by an Independent Examiner. The Examiner will decide what changes are required to meet the national neighbourhood planning requirements and recommend that the Plan is subject to a Parish Referendum open to all on the Electoral Register. A simple majority in favour of the Plan will mean that it can be used by Braintree District Council when making decisions on planning applications.
