April has again been a drafting and research month. It also saw the release of a corrected Housing Needs Assessment.
We alerted AECOM to the fact that there were some calculation errors in the Housing Needs Assessment mainly relating to the plan period (which is 11 years but had been put in as 15 in some places). They issued a revised document here. This has resulted in some changes to their overall conclusions – in particular they estimate we need another 6.6 (call it 7!) affordable homes (to buy) over the current supply in the village by 2036 and not 9 as previously advised.
The Local Landscape Character Assessment, now some 68 pages in length including photographs, is nearly done. This is the first time a detailed analysis of this type has been created and it should prove invaluable in assisting planners and developers going forwards.
As might be expected, drafting detailed planning policies covering the whole range of necessary topics from parking to playgrounds and bungalows to bats is taking more time than expected. Our planning consultant is working on this (with our help) as much as he can around other commitments and we hope we will have a final first draft in May.
Once all the documents are drafted, we will then need to sort out any missing evidence and get some informal feedback from North Yorkshire Council. We will also need to carry out required Environmental Regulations Screening. At the same time, we are keen to get some informal comments from a small group of ‘first readers’ from outside the working group. If you would able to assist with this, please do get in touch with Sarah on 01347 868155 or ℅ husthwaitepc@hotmail.co.uk.
We hope to get to the full Parish Consultation on the draft Plan and the draft Design Code in June. We thank everyone for their patience.