Alison Sawalhi

Neighbourhood Plan update February 2026

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Reg 14 Consultation completed

The formal public consultation on the draft Husthwaite Parish Neighbourhood Development Plan 2025-2036 and draft Husthwaite Design Code is now closed.  It ran from 4 December 2025 to 23 January 2026 inclusive. 

During the consultation period the Parish Council was looking to obtain the views of residents of the Parish and other stakeholders , including those who work or carry on business  in the Parish on

  • The content and wording of the draft HPNDP
  • The content of the evidence basis which is set out in the draft HPNDP
  • The content and wording of the draft Design Code

The HNP team (which was formally set up as a Steering Group by the Parish Council in January) organised several drop in events during the consultation period to answer questions on the Neighbourhood Plan process and on the objectives and policies set out in the draft HPNDP.  Over 50 people attended these events and many provided informal feedback which was largely positive.

The Parish Council received written comments (some very lengthy) from 22 local residents/landowners and from 8 organisations including extensive comments from North Yorkshire Council (NYC).

All these comments are now being reviewed and discussed with our Planning Consultant who will advise in particular on any changes to policy wording and general compliance with national and local planning rules.  A formal Consultation Response Statement has to be prepared which sets out Recommendations including any amendments to the draft Plan. This is going to take some time but we are hopeful that the Steering Group will meet to review this in the next few weeks.

Meanwhile members of the Steering Group continue to work on a number of other formal documents which have to be submitted with the next version of the draft Plan.  It has also assisted the Parish Council with a response to a Freedom of Information Request relating to the preparation of the draft Plan.

See Neighbourhood plan documents for more information from the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group.

Neighbourhood Plan update January 2026

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Thank you to all who came along to the three drop in events in December.  Lots of questions were asked and people clearly found it helpful to see the draft plan in hard copy rather than try to read it online.

The  overarching objective of the draft plan is to facilitate needed development in a way which preserves the best of Husthwaite.  Based on community engagement to date and a range of other evidence, it aims to balance the interests of current and future residents, visitors, businesses and the local environment.

We are very keen to get comments on the draft plan from as many parishioners as possible to find out if you think the draft plan achieves that objective.  Please use the online form which is available here or email us at husthwaitepc@hotmail.co.uk.  Let us know what you particularly like about the draft plan as well as where you think it needs amendment.

All comments on the plan have to be provided in writing and will be recorded in a public document. They will all be taken into account when the draft plan is finalised for submission to North Yorkshire Council.

A reminder that the consultation runs until 23 January 2026 and there is a further event to promote and explain the draft plan on Saturday 10 January from 10am to 4pm in the village hall. We will be giving a short presentation at 11.30am and again at 2.30pm to explain a bit more about why the plan is so important and what it seeks to achieve

We are also continuing to work on the ‘evidence base’ which underpins the policies in the draft plan. These can all be found on the Neighbourhood Plan Documents page here. We have recently added evidence reports dealing with Community Assets and Housing.  All comments on these – and any other of the documents – will also be very welcome.

This is your parish, your plan, your say!

Neighbourhood Plan update December 2025

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Neighbourhood Plan – Consultation has launched!

After three years+, we have finally got the draft Husthwaite Parish Neighbourhood Development Plan (the draft Plan) out for consultation.  It is on the village website here along with the draft Design Code which officially forms part of it.

We are hoping everyone will let us have their views on the draft Plan using our google feedback form here or by communicating via email or paper form.    The draft plan is based on all the community engagement to date plus a review of a huge amount of  ‘evidence’ and its  overarching objective is to facilitate needed development in a way which preserves the best of Husthwaite.  However, this is very much a consultation process – the plan will undoubtedly need some editing – so please do share your thoughts.

The draft plan is split into the same broad themes that we have used through the engagement process:

  • Design and Heritage
  • Natural Environment
  • Housing
  • Business
  • Community Assets
  • Renewable Energy
  • Drainage
  • Transport
  • Connectivity

Each section contains the objectives and justification for the proposed policies which will be used to guide and assess future planning applications in the parish.  Overall they seek a balancing of the interests of residents, visitors, biodiversity and businesses in a way which seeks to deliver a sustainable future for the parish.   We need your confirmation that we have got that balance right – or help on how we could adjust any policy to deliver a better outcome.

We also have to send the draft plan to a long list of statutory consultees like Yorkshire Water, Historic England and most importantly North Yorkshire Council. All their comments and suggested changes will also have to be reviewed and actioned.

It may be easier to look at the draft Plan in hard copy and we have these available to loan – email husthwaitepc@hotmail.co.uk.  Copies – and a summary – will also be available at the drop in events in the Village Hall (refreshments included). The next two are Friday 12 December 12-2pm and Wednesday 17 December 2-4pm.  We will schedule another one for early January.

We anticipate  residents will have questions about the draft plan so we would encourage coming along to a drop in event where hopefully the Parish Council/neighbourhood plan team can help with these.  There will also be a brief Parish Council meeting on Tuesday 16 December 2025 at 7pm at which questions can also be raised