Got a question about Datchet's Neighbourhood Plan?
Q: What can a Neighbourhood Plan do?
A: Neighbourhood Plans allow communities to have a say in how they would like to see any new development designed and located within their Plan Area, and how they would like their heritage to be protected. They can consider non-strategic planning issues about the use and development of land, and include policies which will guide future development, regeneration and conservation.
Once approved, Neighbourhood Plans are legal planning documents used alongside the Local Plan to determine planning applications.
Additional policies can be added to a Neighbourhood Plan over time, subject to the proper procedures and approval by the community.
You can read more about Neighbourhood Planning on the government website: www.gov.uk/guidance/neighbourhood-planning--2
Q: What can’t it do?
A: A Neighbourhood Plan can't change National or Borough strategic planning policies. Nor can it deal with non-planning matters. If it identifies issues of a non-planning nature, for instance traffic management or street cleaning, these can be treated as separate projects and brought to the attention of the relevant bodies.
Q: Which topics can be covered in a Neighbourhood Plan?
A: Neighbourhood Plans cover topics such as heritage, the environment and green spaces, infrastructure and community facilities, housing and the built environment, local economy and business, etc. It's up to us all to decide which topics are most important to us in Datchet and which non-strategic planning issues we want our Neighbourhood Plan to cover.
Q: Can Datchet’s Neighbourhood Plan override the Borough’s Local Plan, or stop the third runway?
A: A Neighbourhood Plan has to comply with existing laws and policies. It can’t change national policies, such as the expansion of Heathrow, or the Borough's strategic planning policies outlined in the Local Plan. In Datchet, its scope is also limited by the flood zones, Green Belt and Conservation Area. But a Neighbourhood Plan can allow us, as a community, to have a say in how we’d like to see any new development designed and located, and the type of infrastructure we think will be necessary to support it, such as schools, doctors, medical and social support. On non-strategic planning issues, a Neighbourhood Plan can carry more legal weight than a Local Plan.
Q: Why was the Borough Local Plan proposing three new housing sites on Datchet's green belt?
A: It was decided that some 700 new homes per year need to be built in the Royal Borough to cope with existing and future housing demand. This is a strategic decision and not something a Neighbourhood Plan can directly affect.
An independent 'Berkshire Strategic Housing Needs Assessment'* was commissioned by a group of Berkshire councils including RBWM.
RBWM put out a call to landowners for available sites and the Datchet sites were among those put forward. Significant development is proposed in urban areas of Maidenhead but, in order to meet the full housing quota set by government, RBWM has also considered sites in the Green Belt.
A Green Belt Analysis of the available sites was carried out and RBWM used this information to determine which Green-Belt sites they would be prepared to relinquish to meet the housing needs. The Datchet sites are among these. Development on the Green Belt is not permitted so government approval is needed for these sites to be taken out of the Green Belt. This approval will be sought when the Borough Local Plan is submitted to the Secretary of State for examination.
If, at some point, a River Thames Scheme flood relief channel is built from Datchet to Teddington, that may also affect the future flood-risk assessment of some sites.
(*You can read the Berkshire Strategic Housing Needs Assessment, SHMA, on the RBWM website. It is in the supporting documents section of the Borough Local Plan: http://consult.rbwm.gov.uk/portal/blp/blpr19/blpr19?tab=files.)
Q: What can the Neighbourhood Plan do about the proposed development on Datchet's Green Belt?
A: A Neighbourhood Plan has to work alongside existing planning policy, such as the National Planning Policy Framework and RBWM's Local Plan. When the current steering group started work on the Neighbourhood Plan in 2016, a new Borough Local Plan was emerging, so we had to work alongside the policy in the then existing Local Plan with an eye on future policy in the new Borough Local Plan.
The Borough Local Plan has now been adopted. This includes the allocation of a former green belt site known as AL39 (London Road/Riding Court Road) for 80 homes. Two of the proposed housing sites in Datchet were dropped.
In the Datchet Neighbourhood Plan, we might consider what sort of housing would be needed in the next 10 or 20 years. Do we have specific housing needs? Do we have the right sort of homes to meet those needs? What do we want those new houses to look like?
Q: Will the Neighbourhood Plan affect local businesses and shops?
A: A Neighbourhood Plan can consider ways to support and encourage local businesses and create employment. That’s why it’s important that local businesses, big and small, also get involved.
Q: What about other issues that have nothing to do with planning?
A: If a lot of people are concerned about the same non-planning issues, these may be treated as separate projects or 'non-policy actions'. They won’t carry any planning weight but they can be recorded as a focus for community action, to be driven forward by the Parish Council and other stakeholders. (Horton & Wraysbury’s Draft Plan, for example, tackles traffic, parking and associated environmental problems in this way.)
Q: Is the Neighbourhood Plan led by Datchet Parish Council?
A: No. The DNP team (Steering Group) has the support of both the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead and Datchet Parish Council but the creation of a Neighbourhood Plan is community-led; its content is guided by your feedback. The DNP team is made up of volunteers who live in the village, including two Parish councillors, members of Datchet Village Society, and other residents. The team recognises that, at times, additional specialist support will be needed, particularly for advice on planning policy. The completed Plan will belong to Datchet Parish Council and should be reviewed at the Annual Parish Meeting. As circumstances change, it may become necessary or desirable to review or update the contents of the DNP. There are set procedures to follow in order to do this.
Q: What happens after the survey?
A: A preliminary analysis of the survey has been undertaken which has identified which issues have been raised by most people. These will guide the key themes for the Plan. Click here for the summary.
The topics raised will then be followed up. These will involve further community engagement, workshops, discussions and events to explore these issues in greater depth.
It’s also important to gather factual evidence to support the Plan. Datchet Village Society is currently helping the DNP team by analysing the socio-economic profile of the local population, auditing existing community facilities and infrastructure, and investigating future trends. Additional evidence might include an assessment of housing stock; surveys of local businesses; and an analysis of transport needs.
We can then begin to propose and write policies for the Plan. When the Plan is written, it must then go through a consultation process which leads to a village-wide referendum. The date of the referendum will be publicised widely and, if you are on the electoral register, you will have the opportunity to cast your vote on whether or not you would like RBWM to use the DNP to help it decide any future planning applications in our neighbourhood area.
Q: How can I get involved?
A: By telling us what you think. Datchet’s Neighbourhood Plan group is led by volunteers whose role is to gather opinions from everyone who lives or works in the village. Over the next year or so, you’ll be asked for your thoughts on a variety of subjects. There will be events, meetings, and questionnaires to complete. Please look out for more information on village noticeboards, in shop windows, on Facebook/Datchet Eye, and on this website. We need your help, too, in spreading the word to friends, neighbours and colleagues, young and old. [August 2022: please note, the Plan is now written and is going through the consultation processes.]
Q: Can I help?
A: If you’d like to help with Datchet Neighbourhood Plan events or just want to find out more, please get in touch. Do you run a local group? If so, could you help us get the word out by sending questionnaires and information to your group? Or could you deliver leaflets to your street? Or, would you like to be involved in a topic group, focus group or public consultations? Do you have specialist knowledge which might be useful? Are you an architect, a former planner or an ecologist, for example? [August 2022: please note, the Plan is now written and is going through the consultation processes.]
A: Neighbourhood Plans allow communities to have a say in how they would like to see any new development designed and located within their Plan Area, and how they would like their heritage to be protected. They can consider non-strategic planning issues about the use and development of land, and include policies which will guide future development, regeneration and conservation.
Once approved, Neighbourhood Plans are legal planning documents used alongside the Local Plan to determine planning applications.
Additional policies can be added to a Neighbourhood Plan over time, subject to the proper procedures and approval by the community.
You can read more about Neighbourhood Planning on the government website: www.gov.uk/guidance/neighbourhood-planning--2
Q: What can’t it do?
A: A Neighbourhood Plan can't change National or Borough strategic planning policies. Nor can it deal with non-planning matters. If it identifies issues of a non-planning nature, for instance traffic management or street cleaning, these can be treated as separate projects and brought to the attention of the relevant bodies.
Q: Which topics can be covered in a Neighbourhood Plan?
A: Neighbourhood Plans cover topics such as heritage, the environment and green spaces, infrastructure and community facilities, housing and the built environment, local economy and business, etc. It's up to us all to decide which topics are most important to us in Datchet and which non-strategic planning issues we want our Neighbourhood Plan to cover.
Q: Can Datchet’s Neighbourhood Plan override the Borough’s Local Plan, or stop the third runway?
A: A Neighbourhood Plan has to comply with existing laws and policies. It can’t change national policies, such as the expansion of Heathrow, or the Borough's strategic planning policies outlined in the Local Plan. In Datchet, its scope is also limited by the flood zones, Green Belt and Conservation Area. But a Neighbourhood Plan can allow us, as a community, to have a say in how we’d like to see any new development designed and located, and the type of infrastructure we think will be necessary to support it, such as schools, doctors, medical and social support. On non-strategic planning issues, a Neighbourhood Plan can carry more legal weight than a Local Plan.
Q: Why was the Borough Local Plan proposing three new housing sites on Datchet's green belt?
A: It was decided that some 700 new homes per year need to be built in the Royal Borough to cope with existing and future housing demand. This is a strategic decision and not something a Neighbourhood Plan can directly affect.
An independent 'Berkshire Strategic Housing Needs Assessment'* was commissioned by a group of Berkshire councils including RBWM.
RBWM put out a call to landowners for available sites and the Datchet sites were among those put forward. Significant development is proposed in urban areas of Maidenhead but, in order to meet the full housing quota set by government, RBWM has also considered sites in the Green Belt.
A Green Belt Analysis of the available sites was carried out and RBWM used this information to determine which Green-Belt sites they would be prepared to relinquish to meet the housing needs. The Datchet sites are among these. Development on the Green Belt is not permitted so government approval is needed for these sites to be taken out of the Green Belt. This approval will be sought when the Borough Local Plan is submitted to the Secretary of State for examination.
If, at some point, a River Thames Scheme flood relief channel is built from Datchet to Teddington, that may also affect the future flood-risk assessment of some sites.
(*You can read the Berkshire Strategic Housing Needs Assessment, SHMA, on the RBWM website. It is in the supporting documents section of the Borough Local Plan: http://consult.rbwm.gov.uk/portal/blp/blpr19/blpr19?tab=files.)
Q: What can the Neighbourhood Plan do about the proposed development on Datchet's Green Belt?
A: A Neighbourhood Plan has to work alongside existing planning policy, such as the National Planning Policy Framework and RBWM's Local Plan. When the current steering group started work on the Neighbourhood Plan in 2016, a new Borough Local Plan was emerging, so we had to work alongside the policy in the then existing Local Plan with an eye on future policy in the new Borough Local Plan.
The Borough Local Plan has now been adopted. This includes the allocation of a former green belt site known as AL39 (London Road/Riding Court Road) for 80 homes. Two of the proposed housing sites in Datchet were dropped.
In the Datchet Neighbourhood Plan, we might consider what sort of housing would be needed in the next 10 or 20 years. Do we have specific housing needs? Do we have the right sort of homes to meet those needs? What do we want those new houses to look like?
Q: Will the Neighbourhood Plan affect local businesses and shops?
A: A Neighbourhood Plan can consider ways to support and encourage local businesses and create employment. That’s why it’s important that local businesses, big and small, also get involved.
Q: What about other issues that have nothing to do with planning?
A: If a lot of people are concerned about the same non-planning issues, these may be treated as separate projects or 'non-policy actions'. They won’t carry any planning weight but they can be recorded as a focus for community action, to be driven forward by the Parish Council and other stakeholders. (Horton & Wraysbury’s Draft Plan, for example, tackles traffic, parking and associated environmental problems in this way.)
Q: Is the Neighbourhood Plan led by Datchet Parish Council?
A: No. The DNP team (Steering Group) has the support of both the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead and Datchet Parish Council but the creation of a Neighbourhood Plan is community-led; its content is guided by your feedback. The DNP team is made up of volunteers who live in the village, including two Parish councillors, members of Datchet Village Society, and other residents. The team recognises that, at times, additional specialist support will be needed, particularly for advice on planning policy. The completed Plan will belong to Datchet Parish Council and should be reviewed at the Annual Parish Meeting. As circumstances change, it may become necessary or desirable to review or update the contents of the DNP. There are set procedures to follow in order to do this.
Q: What happens after the survey?
A: A preliminary analysis of the survey has been undertaken which has identified which issues have been raised by most people. These will guide the key themes for the Plan. Click here for the summary.
The topics raised will then be followed up. These will involve further community engagement, workshops, discussions and events to explore these issues in greater depth.
It’s also important to gather factual evidence to support the Plan. Datchet Village Society is currently helping the DNP team by analysing the socio-economic profile of the local population, auditing existing community facilities and infrastructure, and investigating future trends. Additional evidence might include an assessment of housing stock; surveys of local businesses; and an analysis of transport needs.
We can then begin to propose and write policies for the Plan. When the Plan is written, it must then go through a consultation process which leads to a village-wide referendum. The date of the referendum will be publicised widely and, if you are on the electoral register, you will have the opportunity to cast your vote on whether or not you would like RBWM to use the DNP to help it decide any future planning applications in our neighbourhood area.
Q: How can I get involved?
A: By telling us what you think. Datchet’s Neighbourhood Plan group is led by volunteers whose role is to gather opinions from everyone who lives or works in the village. Over the next year or so, you’ll be asked for your thoughts on a variety of subjects. There will be events, meetings, and questionnaires to complete. Please look out for more information on village noticeboards, in shop windows, on Facebook/Datchet Eye, and on this website. We need your help, too, in spreading the word to friends, neighbours and colleagues, young and old. [August 2022: please note, the Plan is now written and is going through the consultation processes.]
Q: Can I help?
A: If you’d like to help with Datchet Neighbourhood Plan events or just want to find out more, please get in touch. Do you run a local group? If so, could you help us get the word out by sending questionnaires and information to your group? Or could you deliver leaflets to your street? Or, would you like to be involved in a topic group, focus group or public consultations? Do you have specialist knowledge which might be useful? Are you an architect, a former planner or an ecologist, for example? [August 2022: please note, the Plan is now written and is going through the consultation processes.]