Planning policy must be based on a proper understanding of the place it relates to, if it is to be relevant, realistic and to address local issues effectively.
It is essential that our Neighbourhood Plan is based on robust information and analysis of our local area. This is called the evidence base. This page will take you to the key elements that make up the evidence base for our Neighbourhood Plan.
Key assessment documents
We have compiled the following key evidence documents in support of our Neighbourhood Plan.
- Local Green Space Assessment (2020)
- Important Public Views (2020)
- Character Areas Assessment (revised 2020)
- Boughton Lees Built Up Confines Assessment (2020)
- Eureka Place (2019) Survey of Business Needs
Evidence papers
Starting with an exploration of local issues raised by residents at our early “discovery” community consultation events, we identified 8 topics to research and gather evidence in the development of our Neighbourhood Plan. Follow the links below to read the results of our research.
- Housing
- Environment
- Community services, culture and leisure
- Heritagehttp://www.parishplan.uk/index.php/employment/
- Business and employment (including 2019 Eureka Place survey)
- Traffic and transport
- Connectivity
- Infrastructure
Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) & Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA)
- Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Habitats
Regulations Assessment (HRA) Screening report and determination
Determination Report – December 2020
Site assessments
A Neighbourhood Plan can allocate a site or sites for development to meet an identified local housing need. In preparing our Plan, we were required to assess the potential sites for housing development in our parish.
The Parish Council has not allocated any land for development in the Draft Neighbourhood Plan. It is envisaged that housing need will be met by the planned large scale new residential development at Eureka Park (Policy S20 in the Ashford Local Plan).