YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN – YOUR TIME TO COMMENT
Dear Parishioners of Milton Abbot, Chillaton, Dunterton , Bradstone ,and Kelly,
You are hopefully aware of the work that has taken place to prepare a Neighbourhood Plan for our community at the request of our Parish Council. This plan, the MACK Plan, is now ready for you to read at the link below. This phase of the production of a Neighbourhood Plan is known as Regulation 14 (Pre-Submission Consultation and Publicity). This is your opportunity to comment on the plan before it is formally submitted to West Devon Borough Council where it is subject to further consultation and formal examination before being put to a vote at a Referendum for all residents of our parishes.
A Neighbourhood Plan can serve to bring a community closer together in the common purpose of securing a clear future for itself. Sadly, several examples exist of communities that have been damaged by their inability to agree on key aspects of their plans. Housing development is almost always the root cause of these disputes. I therefore want to assure you that the 11 volunteers who worked on the plan have done everything that we possibly can to gather every scrap of evidence that is available and to commission as much independent work as we could so that our personal views have not been able to influence the recommendations of this plan. All the key evidence is available to you on this website.
In terms of housing, the recommendations of which of the 10 potential sites are suitable and which are not has been done entirely independently by a national company called AECOM. We and the Parish Council agree with their assessments but there will clearly be some residents who will be affected more than others and who will not be happy. There is sadly no potential development site that will suit everyone and as 20 new houses will be built in Milton Abbot even if we all object, having a Neighbourhood Plan that bounds and guides that development is the best way to proceed as it gives residents the greatest influence over the future of our villages.
Please take the time to read your Neighbourhood Plan and let us have your comments and ideas whether positive or negative. We don’t have the monopoly on good ideas and you may spot some vital opportunity that might otherwise be missed. Please use the ‘How to comment’ link below to add a comment. We intend to distribute a hard copy to each household in January 2021 to help those with poor or no internet and that will contain details of how to comment by post if unavoidable. Whilst we are now in Regulation 14, this consultation will continue until 6 weeks after the distribution of hard copies.
Yours sincerely
Richard Allen