A Perfect Storm?

Well it is so flaming quiet at the moment, with absolutely nothing happening of interest anywhere, you get the distinct feeling that something is going to happen to shatter this bliss.

So far the 'Welcome' signs have not gone up, or if they have I need some new glasses.  Some villages have 'Drive Carefully' signs, which would be much more appropriate given that speeding through the village seems to be the norm.

If you go through Mattersey be mindful of the fact that they have put two ginormous humps at either end in, that are the biggest I have seen yet and  designed to peel the underneath of your car off like a tin of sardines.  Not so bad in daytime if you can see them but hardly seen at night.  It would be interesting to see if they have had many complaints  yet.  Not that I am advocating them for Misterton, more trouble than they are worth and only hack people off.

I suppose the next big thing will be the Neighbourhood Plan.  Not read much about it other than there is money involved and more money if you have one.  I harvested these bits from the Government website:

Neighbourhood development plans

A neighbourhood development plan establishes general planning policies for the development and use of land in a neighbourhood, like:

• where new homes and offices should be built
• what they should look like

The plan can be detailed or general, depending what local people want.
Neighbourhood plans allow local people to get the right type of development for their community, but the plans must still meet the needs of the wider area. In most cases we expect this will mean that neighbourhood plans will have to take into account the local council’s assessment of housing and other development needs in the area.
More and more communities are taking up the right to produce a neighbourhood plan. At August 2013, 3 plans have successfully been through a community referendum and have been brought into force by the local planning authority.

Community Infrastructure Levy

Parishes with a neighbourhood plan will receive 25% of any Community Infrastructure Levy arising from developments in their area compared to parishes without a neighbourhood plan who will receive 15%.

Role of the local planning authority

The local planning authority has a duty to support communities making their neighbourhood plan. For example, it will organise the independent examination of the neighbourhood development plan, neighbourhood development order or Community Right to Build order. This is to check that the plan or order meets certain minimum conditions.
The local planning authority is responsible for organising the neighbourhood planning referendum. The referendum ensures that the local community has the final say on whether a neighbourhood development plan, neighbourhood development order or a Community Right to Build order comes into force in their area.


At the moment we have the Newells site with around 70 houses not built and bits of infilling here and there.  Our infrastructure is struggling to cope with what we have already.  Some places can stand more houses being built in large numbers, can we without changes.  It will be interesting to see what happens.  Still at least  we are having say in that.