NDP Polling Cards Drop on Doormats
Polling cards for Sandbach Neighbourhood Plan have started to drop through residents’ letterboxes in preparation of the Adoption Referendum on Thursday 24th March. The referendum is the culmination of nearly 2 years work by a group of Sandbach Town Councillors and Community representatives. The Neighbourhood Development Plan for Sandbach has already gone through two phases of public consultation. The initial consultation took place in September 2014 when the 1st Phase Questionnaire found out what residents liked/disliked about Sandbach and how they wanted to protect or change it. The second consultation occurred in January 2015 with another household questionnaire. This questionnaire focussed on how residents wanted to protect or change Sandbach and its environment. The policies contained within the final Sandbach Neighbourhood Plan have been produced as a result of the second phase questionnaire and subsequent public consultations. They are based on resident responses and aim to protect the good things about Sandbach and improve the not so good things. The final part -The Referendum Stage- is the third consultation phase in the production of the Sandbach Neighbourhood Plan and gives residents the opportunity to confirm that they agree with the Sandbach Neighbourhood Plan policies. The Referendum Question will be:- “Do you want Cheshire East Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Sandbach to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?” With the choice to vote YES or NO. If at least 50% of referendum voters vote YES then the Sandbach Neighbourhood Plan becomes a legal reference document that will have to be referred to alongside Cheshire East Council’s Local Plan as part of the local planning process. A leaflet containing a synopsis of the policies and explaining when and where to vote is being delivered to all households commencing 5th March. CLICK BELOW to download a copy of the leaflet here. SandbachTownCouncil_Referendum_8pg_v3 Full details of the Sandbach Neighbourhood Plan policies can be found at http://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/planning/neighbourhood_plans/sandbach-neighbourhood-plan.aspx Paper copies are available for viewing at Sandbach Library, Sandbach Town Council offices in the Literary Institution and Cheshire East Council offices,...
Read MoreSandbach NDP Passes Examination
After many months of intensive work, the Sandbach Neighbourhood Development Plan Working Group, in conjunction with Sandbach Town Council has prepared a neighbourhood Development Plan for the Parish of Sandbach. A stringent independent examination of the Plan has been undertaken by Mr Terry Raymond Heselton BA (Hons), Dip TP, MRTPI, who concluded that the Plan meets all of the statutory requirements of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and subject to some modifications, is approved as ready to proceed to referendum. When referring to the modifications, the examiner concluded that the essence of the policies remain and provide a framework, for managing future development proposals and protecting and enhancing the local environment. Mr Ian Knowlson, Chairman of the Working Group, stated “We are delighted and proud with the positive comments made by the examiner in respect of the methodology, structure and policies of our Sandbach Neighbourhood Plan. The examiner makes specific reference to the methodologies engagement especially of the young members within our community; this demonstrates a positive approach to engaging young people in the preparation of the plan. Despite several objections from developers on the engagement and consultation process, the examiner fully endorsed the methodology used by the Working Group and the ‘open and transparent manner from start to finish’. It was also acknowledged that in some cases the Working Group exceeded all consultation and publicity requirements. Whilst the examiner recommended some amendments to the plan, overall we are pleased with the final Sandbach NDP and we hope the community will share our view and vote positively for it to be ‘made’ in the forth-coming referendum. The NDP Working Group believe it represents a major step in giving the community of Sandbach a voice in how our town develops over the forthcoming years and we hope the thousands of community members who participated in producing the plan are proud of what they have achieved.” Last Thursday, Sandbach Town Council unanimously agreed to accept the examiner’s report and recommendations and to request Cheshire East Council to proceed to public referendum at the earliest opportunity, which is likely to be Spring. Town Mayor, Cllr Gill Merry said “To have arrived at this stage in such a relatively short space of time is testament to the hard work and dedication of the Neighbourhood Plan Working Group, our thanks must also go to those who have made a significant contribution...
Read MoreExaminer appointed to review Sandbach NDP
Following the completion of the latest Regulation 16 statutory Public Consultation conducted by Cheshire East Council earlier this month, we are pleased to announce that an independent examiner, Mr Terry Heselton, has been appointed and is expected to commence his review of the Sandbach Neighbourhood Plan this week. Mr Heselton will examine the full Sandbach NDP policy document plus associated documentation and supporting evidence as well as and the comments received by developers, community groups and other local councils. This examination is expected to be completed by Mr Heselton within the coming weeks. Background Earlier this year the Neighbourhood Development Plan for Sandbach (Draft) was released for Statutory Consultation under regulation 14 of the Town and Country Planning, England – Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012. Sandbach Neighbourhood Development Plan Working Group, in conjunction with the Sandbach Town Council prepared a draft Neighbourhood Development Plan for the Parish of Sandbach based upon extensive public consultations. The Regulation 14 Consultation for the plan was completed in May 2015 and considerable work was done over the summer months preparing the plan for its submission to Cheshire East Council in September under regulation 15 and formal review by an examiner. Read more about the Neighbourhood Development Plan for Sandbach Next Step The NDP Working Group Chairman, Ian Knowlson, commented that ‘The Working Group are delighted that the formal examination of our plan will start this week after eighteen months of hard work by the team of community representatives and councillors. This is another significant landmark in the process of making our Neighbourhood Development Plan and the NDP Policy Group and Town Councillors have undertaken a huge amount of work in recent months to reach this point. We now look forward to the next step which will be the release of the examiners report which we are hopeful of receiving in the next few weeks.’ A copy of the draft plan can be viewed on the Sandbach Town Council website www.sandbach.gov.uk or www.sandbachneighbourhoodplan.org.uk ...
Read MoreSANDBACH NDP Student’s Picture Competition Winners
Sandbach Students celebrate winning Sandbach Neighbourhood Plan Picture Competition. Sandbach Neighbourhood Development Plan announce the winners of the “Illustrate Sandbach” competition. Winner Ashley Gaunt, a Sandbach School Year 7 pupil, was heartily congratulated by Sandbach Mayor, Councillor Gill Merry, and presented with his prize of a £40 sweet bomb and book token. The runners up, Edward Pettitt, Max Rayner, Tom Smyth, Nathan Yeomans, Ben Jackson and Alex Robinson all received a book token from the Mayor at an assembly at Sandbach School. Mayor Merry congratulated all the boys on their work, which illustrated their own unique “Picture of Sandbach”. She then went on to present Head Teacher, Sarah Burns, with a cheque for £250 as the school of the winning entrant. Sandbach Neighbourhood Plan Working Group wish to thank Choc A Doodle Doo and Sandbach Town Council for donation of the competition...
Read MoreSANDBACH NDP Student’s Picture Competition
PICTURE COMPETITION Sandbach Neighbourhood Development Plan is giving Sandbach students the opportunity to win £250 for their school in a competition to illustrate Sandbach. The competition is open to all pupils between the ages of 4- 19 years who attend a Sandbach school. There will be two prizes available to the winning Student and their school. PRIZES 1. £40 sweet bomb to the Student who submits the winning entry for themselves or to share with their friends/classmates. (Sponsored by Chocodoodledoo & STC) 2. £250 (cash-prize) to the winning Student’s School for the purchase of capital items. TO ENTER Simply produce your own unique “Picture of Sandbach”. Students can use any medium e.g. paint, pencil, crayon, photograph or fabric. Students can use any style e.g. drawing/painting/collage or photography. Students can feature any subject that makes Sandbach special to them or they think captures the character of any part of Sandbach. No matter what the subject, whether it is The Crosses, Abbeyfields, Wheelock Rail Trail, the Canal or a favourite building, all will be welcomed entries. Entries must not exceed A3 size and should detail the entrants name, age, address and school on the reverse of the artwork. Completed entries should be handed in at the students’ school reception. Closing date for entries is 27th February 2015. Entries will be adjudicated by a panel of judges from the community during the first week of March. We hope to announce the winner during the week commencing 9th March 2015. You and your family are encouraged to share their views, which you can do online at: www.sandbachneighbourhoodplan.org.uk/phase2/ If required physical questionnaires can be obtained from the Sandbach Town Council Offices or the...
Read MoreSuccess with completion of Phase 1 – now for Phase 2!
The Working Group producing the Sandbach Neighbourhood Development Plan, with the support of a group of dedicated community volunteers, has now completed the analysis of the phase one questionnaire. A total of 1,539 questionnaires were returned by the community with 16,540 “mentions” being made in total. The analysis has revealed seven common theme / subject areas; Community & Wellbeing, Heritage & Character, Housing, Infrastructure, Local Economy & Jobs, Environment and the Protection of the Countryside. Overall the themes, which the community highlighted as being the most urgent, were around, in no specific order, Housing, Infrastructure, Protection of Countryside, Economy & Jobs and Community & Wellbeing. The Group Chairman, Ian Knowlson stated, “I am pleased that we are now able to evidence the community priorities and would urge everyone to continue to support this work by engaging through public meetings and consultation. This plan will help to protect Sandbach against inappropriate development for many years; therefore it is vital that everyone contributes to its production.” The next step is to draft an Aims and Visions Questionnaire that will examine these issues in detail for release to the public in January 2015. If you would like to be involved in setting the Aims and Visions then please come along to a community workshop, this Saturday 22nd November at Sandbach Town Hall from 10am till 4pm. This is a great opportunity to review the consultation results in detail and help decide what should be included in the Sandbach Neighbourhood Plan. This is a key piece of work and the help of the local community is vital to the eventual adoption of the plan, which will help shape the future of Sandbach. To help keep you going throughout the day, a sandwich lunch and refreshments will be provided. Please let us know if you are planning to attend so that we can get a good idea of numbers by informing the Working Group via email info@sandbachneighbourhoodplan.org.uk or by phoning Sandbach Town Council (01270)...
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