Newsletter No 8
CHESIL BANK PARISH COUNCIL
NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN PROJECT
Newsletter No 8
March 2021
In spite of the difficult circumstances we find ourselves in, work on the Neighbourhood Plan
has continued over recent months, albeit at a reduced pace. Following the Call for Sites
exercise we undertook in October, we contacted Locality, who are the Government
Department responsible for providing technical expertise on Site Assessments and Design
Codes*. They have been working on our behalf since November and we received two draft
reports from them in early March on both Design Codes and Site Assessments. We are now
reviewing these documents prior to going back to AECOM** with our comments.
We are anxious to engage with the local community so that we can exchange views on the
various aspects of the Neighbourhood Plan, such as Housing, Local Employment, the
Environment, Conservation etc, but clearly this cannot happen until the restrictions on public
meetings are removed. Consequently, it has been decided to reduce our efforts to a minimum
during the next 3 months. We will still meet as a group monthly on Zoom just to ensure that
we keep things ticking over. In the meantime we are working on a response to the draft Dorset
Local Plan, which is available in the public domain. Comments need to be returned by the
15th March 2021.
We will continue to keep you updated over the coming weeks and months and look forward
to being able to have a series of consultation events during the summer months, assuming
that the rules allow us to do that.
Derek Troughton
On behalf of the Neighbourhood Planning SG
* A Design Code is a document that sets rules for the design of a new development. They
provide a framework for the physical development of a site or area. For example, they might
in our case specify a particular type of stonework for external walls or the provision of slate
roofs.They are detailed and precise.
**AECOM is an international infrastructure consulting firm who have been contracted by
Locality,which is a Government Agency responsible for supporting Neighbourhood Plans.