NEWS 2017:
Referendum Result from 7th December 2017
Turnout 38.2%
Votes cast: 1,252
Votes YES: 1,172
Vote NO: 77
Spoilt Votes: 3
YES vote majority of 94%
Melton now has a Neighbourhood Plan!
Thank you to all those who voted and to all those who have worked so hard for 5 years to get to this point. It is now up to the Parish Council to ensure that the Plan is used as effectively as possible to achieve as much as possible for the people who have put their vote behind it. This work will start in 2018 and the first way in which the plan can be used is to fight the Yarmouth Rd development which will soon be coming to Appeal.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Plan has been approved by the Independent Inspector and will now proceed to Referendum on 7th December 2017 - with a few amendments. Please go to the Documents page to see her full report. This is really amazing news after 5 years of very hard work getting the plan to this stage. The Referendum will be run by Suffolk Coastal District Council on 7th December 2017 and we ask you all to support your village by coming along and voting. It will be held at The Burness Parish Rooms, The Street, IP12 1PW.
You can see all the documentation she received before she made her decision as well as ALL the responses to Submission Stage (see below) at the following website: http://www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk/planning/neighbourhood-planning/neighbourhood-plans-in-the-area/melton-neighbourhood-area/The Melton Neighbourhood Plan has now been through it's final Submission
Submission Stage Consultation
This is the final stage of Public Consultation. As soon as all feedback and comments are received from this the Draft Plan and all current supporting documents will be given to an Independent Inspector. Their comments and any changes they suggest will be applied to the Plan document and then once Suffolk Coastal District Council have signed this Final Document off it will go to Public Referendum. We are hoping that this Referendum will before the summer this year.
(Notice of publication of Melton Neighbourhood Plan proposal in accordance with regulation 16 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 and Localism Act 2011)
The Melton Neighbourhood Plan (December 2016) is a planning policy document which has been prepared by Melton Parish Council as the “relevant body” following extensive consultation with the local community. The designated neighbourhood plan area is the same as that of the administrative parish boundary. This notice invites comments on the plan ahead of it being subject to independent examination and referendum.
Subject to the plan successfully completing all the relevant regulatory stages, the policies and proposals contained in the plan will be used by Suffolk Coastal District Council as Local Planning Authority in the determination of planning applications within Melton Parish.
Comments must be received by 5:15pm 13th April 2017 (see below)
Regulatory Requirements
In accordance with Regulation 15 of the above Regulations, Melton Parish Council as the qualifying body has submitted to the Suffolk Coastal District Council:
-
A copy of the Melton Neighbourhood Plan – December 2016 (including a map of the area to which the plan relates);
-
A Consultation Statement (detailing the consultation undertaken by the Parish Council to inform the preparation of the neighbourhood plan);
-
A Basic Conditions Statement (explaining how the Plan meets the requirements of paragraph 8 of Schedule 4B to the 1990 Planning Act).
In addition the Parish Council have submitted the following supporting documentation:
List of evidence
-
Sustainability Appraisal
-
Habitats Regulation Assessment
-
Executive summary of Neighbourhood Plan.
Suffolk Coastal District Council is now required (Regulation 16) to publicise the plan proposal and invite comments ahead of the submission of the plan to independent examination. Comments received will be forwarded to the examiner for consideration alongside the plan.
Where can I view the documents?
Copies of the above documents are available to view on the Suffolk Coastal District Council website using the following link:
You can also view the same documents on the DOCUMENTS page of this website.
Alternatively, hard copies of the documents are available for viewing at:
SCDC Customer Services Centre,
Woodbridge Library, New Street, Woodbridge IP12 1DT
(Opening Hours: Mon - Wed 08:45 – 17:00; Thurs 09:00 – 17:30; Friday 08:45 – 16:30)
A copy has separately been made available at Woodbridge Library (library opening hours).
When must I submit my comments by?
Comments are invited over the period 23rd January 2017 to 13th April 2017.
Comments must be submitted by 5:15pm on 13th April 2017.
How should I submit my comments?
Comments on the plan (including any supporting documents) are invited via letter or email.
Letter: Attn Mrs H Hanslip
Planning Policy and Delivery Team (Neighbourhood Plans)
Suffolk Coastal District Council
East Suffolk House
Riduna Park
Station Road
Melton
IP12 1RT
Email: suffolkcoastallocalplan@eastsuffolk.gov.uk
Please ensure your comments are headed Melton Neighbourhood Plan. Where comments relate to a particular paragraph of policy please ensure that this is also clearly stated. Any representations made may include a request to be notified of the District Council’s decision as to whether to accept the examiners recommendation and future progress of the plan (Regulation 19).
Any queries please contact Hilary Hanslip 01394 444761 or email as above.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRE-SUBMISSION CONSULTATION (REGULATION 14)
As part of the requirements of the Localism Act 2011 and Regulation 14 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2015 (as amended), Melton Parish Council undertook a Pre-Submission Consultation on the Melton Draft Neighbourhood Plan last summer. As a body we were required to consult, seeking views on the Draft Neighbourhood Plan. The current DRAFT plan and supporting documents can be viewed on the DOCUMENTS page of this website:
Hard copies were viewed at the Woodbridge Library, The Coach and Horses Pub, The Fish and Chip Shop, St Andrews Church or were emailed on request.
The Pre-Submission Consultation ran for a double the required period of 6 weeks starting on Friday 1st July 2016 and fininshing on Friday 23rd September. Feedback was given via Survey Monkey, Email and Letter.
The responses are all being analysed and can be viewed as part of the next stage which is 'Submission Stage'. Due to the proximity of Christmas it has been decided it is better that we wait till early January for this so that people are around and all have their chance to feedback to this final consultation. Suffolk Coastal District Council will be running this for 6 weeks. We will be making sure everyone knows what is happening by updating this page, putting it on E-News and putting in an article in Melton Messenger plus posters throughout the village. Until then Happy Christmas and we will be in touch again in January!
One last piece of great news is that we have been awarded a further Grant of £2,750 from Locality. This means that almost no Parish Council (your) money has been spent on this project although of course a HUGE amount of volunteer time has gone into it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Current DRAFT NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN can now be viewed. Pease go to the Documents page to view all relevant documentation for this plan as well as the feedback and analysis of the recent Open Sessions on 10/11/12th March 2016 at Melton Primary School.
New Development Proposal
As part of the NP we are required to allocate some housing. This is sensible when we have a proven need for a small amount of affordable housing but it is also sensible because it puts us in a stronger position, once the NP is adopted, to argue against large housing applications which the community do not want and on innapropriate sites. The current draft idea is just that - a draft idea. Following feedback from our March events we will look at what improvements we can make. You should be aware of the following when looking at this proposal:
- it is on a BROWNFIELD site which in all previous community consultation over the last 3 years has been identified as the place most people would want to see a small amount of development.
- as a BROWNFIELD site something will eventually be developed there. It is better that as a community we try to shape what this is as much as possible rather than leaving it to fate - we could get something much worse e.g. a lorry park.
- everyone is aware of the traffic issues in Melton. Most of this is due to the huge amount of traffic from the Peninsular which comes directly through Melton. We have very little power to influence this although Melton PC are talking to SCDC and SCC about it and it is a known issue. Despite this we need to find some solutions to the flow of traffic without it necessarily being a barrier to a SMALL amount of development in the future.
- previous consultation has shown that in Melton we need affordable houses and small business and retail opportunities. Combined with the obvious amenity benefits (park, lake, cafe, farm, allotments etc) we have tried to provide for both these things with the new proposal.
- following feedback from the March Open Sessions we will be looking at alternative access to this site rather than through St Andrews.
You can see a visual of the current proposal HERE
DRAFT Consultation Statement. A DRAFT of our full consultation statement is now available to view. Please click HERE to see it. N.B. this is still a work in progress as there are two sections we can not yet complete as thete haven't happened yet!
Woods Lane situation: SCDC appealed the decision by the Planning Inspector to grant permission for 180 houses at the top of Woods Lane. This was with the Supreme Court and was also dependent on two other similar appeals which were being considered. The Supreme Court however did not agree that SCDC had a case and after looking at any other options to fight this SCDC decided it would waste far too much public money and they had to drop it earlier this year - which means that unfortunately the permission is valid and the developer is able to proceed. It is worth noting that one of the reasons why the Planning Inspector approved this development was due to us not having a Neighbourhood Plan in place with any allocated housing.
Older News:
Our HOUSEHOLD QUESTIONNAIRE went to every house in Melton in January 2014 and we had an amazing response of 25%. A report on the results of this is