Stebbing Parish Council

JULY 2022 UPDATE

The Stebbing Neighbourhood Plan was adopted by Uttlesford District Council on 20th July. So effectively the project is complete.

Below is a brief summary of what the adopted Plan means to the residents of Stebbing:

Housing Development - The plan makes provision for 6 sites in the village where residential development is allocated (Chapter 10). It also lists a number of criteria that any future development should meet (Chapter 6). Any development that does not meet this criteria will not be compliant with the plan and will not normally be approved. The objective is to stop the speculative development proposals that have dogged the village for the last 10 years or so. It is still possible for other future development to go ahead, depending on the individual merits of each case, but it sets the bar far higher for approval and would need compelling reasons if not compliant with the plan.

Local Green Space – The plan makes provision for 7 areas of Local Green Space in the parish (Chapter 5). These are considered to be demonstrably special to the Parish and accordingly justify designation for protection and to safeguard their use and function, e.g. for sport and recreation, allotments, or areas of natural beauty and important landscape qualities valued by village residents. Local Green Space areas have strong legal protection against change of use for residential or commercial development. 

Green Wedge – The area between Stebbing Green, New Pastures Lane, Boxted Wood and the Braintree District Council boundary is designated as a Green edge. This gives special protection to that area over and above the restrictions that normally apply in rural areas. Any development within the Green Wedge should respect the open and undeveloped nature of the open valley side to preserve or enhance the setting and distinctive character and appearance and individual identities of Stebbing Green Character Area, Boxted Wood and the heritage assets in the area. This policy should also deter any major speculative development that previously threatened this area.

Village Projects – The plan recommends the Parish Council pursue number of projects (Chapter 12) in the parish these include: 1) improve facilities for the youth of the village, 2) improve cycling provisions in the village and 3) seek via UDC the formal designation of Stebbing Green as a ‘conservation area.’ 

 

JUNE 2022 UPDATE

​The referendum to approve or reject the Stebbing Neighbourhood Plan took place on Thursday 23rd June 2022.

The result was a majority supporting the neighbourhood plan with 534 (97%) votes to approve the plan and 17 (3%) votes against. With a turnout of 48%.

This is a resounding endorsement of the plan of 97%. The turnout of 48% was also very high. Typically local plan referendums have turnouts of below 40%.

 

MAY 2022 UPDATE

The Stebbing Neighbourhood Plan is complete and ready to be voted on by the parishioners of Stebbing. The referendum will take place on 23rd June at the Stebbing Village Hall.

The Notice of Referendum can be accessed by clicking here.

The Table-time for the referendum can be accessed by clicking here.

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MARCH 2022 UPDATE

​Good progress is being made on the Stebbing Neighbourhood Plan (SNP). Work on this plan started in 2016 and has had to overcome many obstacles, both local and national, to get to its current position. The completed plan was sent to an independent inspector for assessment at the end of last year and the results of their examination has been returned, with no significant amendments requested. This is excellent news as the inspection can often lead to major changes required to a plan or occasionally rejection. This is not the case with the Stebbing plan and the inspector commented on the high standard of the work.

What is particularly pleasing is the examiner’s endorsement that Stebbing Green should be designated as a Conservation Area and all the proposed Local Green Spaces, bar one, should be included. The examiner also supported the concept of a Green Wedge to protect Stebbing Green and Boxted Wood from future development. These are all key elements of SNP, which together with the endorsement of small scale organic growth was overwhelmingly supported by the local community during the surveys undertaken during the planning period.

The plan will now go to the Uttlesford District Council cabinet office and full council for approval in April. Once agreed the plan will be presented to Stebbing residents in a referendum to be finally approved, hopefully this will at place in the summer.

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JULY  2021 UPDATE

​The Stebbing Neighbourhood Plan is complete and has been formally submitted to Uttlesford District Council following a check by the officers of the documents and that it meets the requirements in the legislation.  UDC must now publicise the Neighbourhood Plan for a minimum of 6 weeks, invite representations, notify any consultation body referred to on the consultation statement and send the draft Plan to an independent examiner. Anyone who previously commented on the Regulation 14 draft plan will have the opportunity to make further comments if they wish, which will then be considered by the examiner. Further details of the consultation and how to respond can be found at https://www.uttlesford.gov.uk/stebbingnp.

The final plan can be accessed on the web site at https://www.stebbingneighbourhoodplan.co.uk/plan. Also on the site is the Reg 15 consultation paper which reviews the results of the various surveys, the comments made and actions taken. This is available at the same address.

Finally, the Neighbourhood Plan committee would like to thank the residents of Stebbing for their continuing support of this project and in completing a number of surveys over a long period of time. The number responses has been encouragingly high compared to many other parishes and all response have been carefully reviewed and considered for the final plan.

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MAY 2021 UPDATE

​After nearly 5 years in the making the Stebbing Neighbourhood Plan is complete from a Stebbing perspective. The comments and suggestions from the recent consultation with residents and interested parties have been assessed, and where relevant included in the plan. The plan has been approved by the Stebbing Parish Council.

The plan will now be delivered to Uttlesford District Council for a final review and public consultation before being submitted to an independent inspector for formal examination. If the plan is found sound by the examiner, the final stage will be a public referendum for the residents of Stebbing to approve, or not the plan. If the vote is ‘yes’ then the plan will become part of the statutory development plan and will start, amongst other things, to give the village additional protection from unwanted and speculative developments.

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JANUARY 2021 UPDATE

Work on the plan is now in the final phases. We are nearing the end of the Regulation 14 stage, which allows the parishioners of Stebbing and interested parties to read and comment on the draft plan. 

This consultation took place during the autumn and we would like to thank everybody who took part. A summary of the results are as follows:

• 51 responses to the questionnaire and 20 replies from ‘interested’ parties.

• 92% said they agreed or strongly agreed with the overall plan, 4% disagreed.

• Most (13 out of 20) of the polices received > 95% agreement.

• 3 policies gained less than 90% approval;

  • Policy 8 (Blackwater Estuary SPA) 86% approval, however all the others (14%) were don’t knows.

  • Policy 16 (Tourism) 88% approval, 6% disapproval.

  • Policy H1-7 (Housing allocations) 69% approval, 18% disapproval. On the comments; 1 disagreed with the H1 development, 1 disagreed with the H4 development, 1 disagreed with the H2 and H3 developments, 1 disagreed with the H1 and H8 developments and 1 disagreed with the H1, H2, H4 & H5 developments.

• 84% said they would vote in the referendum.

The draft plan can found at www.stebbingneighbourhoodplan.co.uk/plan

The next stage is for the plan to be amended, taking into account the comments and suggestions from the consultation. The amended plan will then be re-submitted to UDC and be reviewed by an independent examiner.

All being well, a referendum will be held in 2021 to approve the plan which will then become part of the official development plan for the Parish and District and taken into account whenever planning applications are made.

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AUGUST 2020 UPDATE

The neighbourhood plan is an important part of the Government's plans to help local communities play a much stronger role in the shaping of their area. For the first time, local people can create a plan that allows them to develop planning policies that reflect the priorities of their area and has real legal weight.

A committee of local Stebbing residents have been working on the Stebbing Neighbourhood Plan for almost 4 years and regular updates on progress have been published in Stebbing Scene issues, via NextDoor and on this web site. The plan is now ready to be published to local residents for their views.

During September and October the draft plan will be available online for residents to review it and make their views known in a survey. The plan will then be amended in line with the feedback and then delivered to Uttlesford District Council (UDC) for review by both the council and by an independent examiner. All being well, the Stebbing community will then decide at a referendum vote whether the local authority should bring the plan into force. The proposed date for the referendum is May 2021.

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MARCH 2020 UPDATE

The draft Stebbing Neighbourhood Plan is now finally complete, bar a few formatting tweaks. It will be sent for initial review to the planning policy team at Uttlesford District Council and a meeting will be arranged when possible to consider their first thoughts on the plan. Work will continue “remotely” on it meanwhile. 

After this, there are a number of other stages the plan has to go thorough before the final version can be put before the public in a referendum. These include final approval by UDC, local consultations by all interested parties and a review by an independent examiner. Once these stages are complete, a public vote of all parishioners will be organised to approve or reject the plan.

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NOVEMBER 2019 UPDATE

​After a period of further evidence based refinement and iterative drafting of the neighbourhood plan over the spring and summer, including the completion of a third party report into possible development sites. The Stebbing Neighbourhood Plan committee has resumed it’s final push to complete the plan ready for public consultation.

The current situation is:

• Draft plan sent to Rachel Hogger (a third party consultant and expert in neighbourhood plans) for appraisal. Rachel has reviewed it and sent comments and revisions back to be considered and included as appropriate.

• A selection of images of the village and surrounding landscape are being finalised for inclusion.

• A letter will shortly be sent to the owners of land being considered for potential housing locations in the parish, in order to ascertain their views as to whether their site will be available.

• Meeting to be booked with representatives from UDC for their first review of the plan.

The next meeting of the Steering Group will be advised after the above steps have been taken.

 

DECEMBER 2018 UPDATE

​Happy New Year to everybody in Stebbing. 2019 moves us into the 3rd year of working on the Stebbing Neighbourhood Plan and all being well will see its completion. 

2018 saw much progress made, including:The completion of the list of Local Green Spaces to be included in the plan.

• The completion of the list of possible development sites to be included in the plan, with the list sent to a third party for their expert views.
• Agreement on the size and location of a Green Wedge between the potential new development at Andrewsfield and Stebbing Green and the village.
• Response sent to the UDC Local Plan (Reg 19), particularly relating to the proposed West of Braintree Garden Community. Details of the response can be found at www.stebbingneighbourhoodplan.co.uk/administration
• First draft of the full plan completed. 

The next meeting of the Steering Group is on Tuesday 5th February at 7.30 in the Old Friend’s Meeting House.

Finally, for those of you a little unsure what a Neighbourhood Plan is, especially given the flood of other information you get sent from various sources, below is a very brief explanation:

Neighbourhood planning is a vital part of the Government's plans to help local communities play a much stronger role in the shaping of their area. For the first time, local people can create a plan that allows them to develop planning policies that reflect the priorities of their area and has real legal weight. The whole community then decides at a referendum vote whether the local authority should bring the plan into force.

 

OCTOBER 2018 UPDATE

Little to report this month as we await an independent consultancy report reviewing the suitability of potential housing developments submitted to the committee.

Work on the final wording of the report is well under way, in readiness for submission to the Parish Council, UDC and for Public Consultation.

The next meeting of the Steering Group is on Tuesday 4th December at 7.30 in the Old Friend’s Meeting House.
 

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SEPTEMBER 2018 UPDATE

A quiet month for the Stebbing Neighbourhood Plan Committee.

All submitted applications for possible development sites is being reviewed by the committee and will be sent to an independent consultancy shortly for them to review the suitability of potential housing development.

The committee had planned have a stall at the Stebbing Village Fete in September to give out information and be on-hand to answer any questions. Unfortunately the weather intervened and the Fete was sadly cancelled.

The next meeting of the Steering Group is on Tuesday, 30th October at 7.30 in the Old Friends’ Meeting House.

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AUGUST 2018 UPDATE

The ‘call for sites’ exercise, asking for possible development sites in Stebbing is now closed. All submitted applications will be reviewed by the Steering Group as well as by an independent consultancy, to ensure we have a specialist view of the suitability of potential new housing site candidates.

The Stebbing Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group has responded to the UDC Local Plan (Reg 19), particularly relating to the proposed West of Braintree Garden Community. Details of the response can be found on the web site at www.stebbingneighbourhoodplan.co.uk

The next meeting of the Steering Group will be in early October, details to be announced soon.

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JULY 2018 UPDATE

​There are two aspects which we are currently working on for the Stebbing Neighbourhood Plan as we move towards the drafting of policies.

Firstly, the closing date for the ‘call for sites’ exercise is the 13th August. Details of this and a submission form can be found on the SNP web site. Once all previously submitted and new submissions are to hand, these will all be reviewed by the steering group as well as by an independent consultancy, to ensure we have a specialist professional view of the suitability of potential housing site candidates. We will be discussing and reviewing these matters with UDC at the appropriate time also.

Secondly, an archaeological report for the parish is awaited from archaeologist Chris Going. This will describe and set out the hidden archaeology lying below the ground of our village and the surrounding countryside, which is of considerable heritage importance and will represent an important part of our “evidence” for the policies to be included in the plan concerning the alleged sustainability of any possible development in the areas of Andrewsfield / Boxted Wood / Stebbing Green.

The next meeting of the Steering Group is on Tuesday, 4th September at 7.30 in the Old Friends’ Meeting House.