Neighbourhood Plan – YOUR participation

Neighbourhood Plan – YOUR participation

Can you help to shape the Lympstone Neighbourhood Plan?
Could you spare a couple of hours to take part in a focus group?

What is a Neighbourhood Plan?
A Neighbourhood Plan is a new way in which the local community can influence planning in the area in which they live and work. Lympstone is now in the process of producing its Neighbourhood Plan.

What has happened so far?
A working party has been established to guide the work. An open meeting on 18th April was attended by around 80 people and generated lots of ideas. We now need to explore these in more detail.

How can I get involved in the next stage?
The next stage is to run a series of focus groups. These will involve a small group of local people, from different backgrounds and with different views, meeting for one and a half hours to share their views about key issues that could be included in the Neighbourhood Plan. The focus groups will be facilitated to make sure everyone is able to contribute and the time is used as effectively as possible. Whilst participants are not ‘representatives’ their contribution needs to be on behalf of the wider community, not just personal or narrow interest.

We are planning to run three focus groups:

Community: this group will start by identifying what makes our community, and what is missing. Then we will focus on things such as the school, the involvement of older and younger people, communications, and meeting places.

Environment: we will identify the key landscape features (such as open spaces, footpaths, wooded areas) that need to be protected, and the key design issues that will preserve the visual appearance of the village. Then we will explore a variety of ‘green’ issues, e.g. climate change.

Infrastructure: this group will discuss transport – cars, buses and rail – in the village. We will also consider how we can maximise the benefits and minimise any problems of the cycle track, and what view we should take about the route of the Dinan Way extension, and what we would like done to mitigate its impact on the parish.

The focus groups will meet at the Village Hall from 7.30-9.30 pm on:

Community: Tuesday 26th June
Infrastructure: Tuesday 3rd July
Environment: Wednesday 4th July

We need about 10 people for each group – as wide a range of people as possible. Please contact the facilitator Mark Robertson at diamondfacilitation@yahoo.co.uk or ring him on 268905 or 07827 413963 if you can help, indicating which focus group you would like to contribute to.

Later in the year there will be an additional focus group to consider housing and development. There will be further information about this on the website and in the Herald.

What else is happening?
Alongside the focus groups we will be consulting with a range of people with a particular interest. For example, local businesses, children and young people, and local landowners.

How can I find out more?
You can keep in touch with what is happening via the Herald, the village website https://www.lympstone.org/general-news/lympstone-neighbourhood-plan/ . You can send your views to NPconsult@lympstone.org or contact Cllr. Rob Longhurst who is the Planning Champion.

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