Langford & Ulting Parish Council

INTRODUCTION

The Localism Act 2011 opened the way to parish councils producing Neighbourhood Plans. These allow councils to have a far greater say on the planning of future development within their parish. Langford & Ulting Parish Council has agreed to develop a Neighbourhood Plan for the entire Civil Parish of Langford & Ulting covering the period to 2030.

The Parish Council has set up a small Steering Group of Parish Councillors and residents charged with producing the plan. What the Parish Council needs over the coming months are the views of the residents on what housing, services and recreational facilities Langford and Ulting need, plus the proposals of landowners and developers for particular potential housing development sites.

April 2013 - Local people to plan future of Langford and Ulting

Maldon District Council has given Langford & Ulting Parish Council the go-ahead to start work on a neighbourhood plan for the parish.

The neighbourhood plan will set out how the village will develop, including how to preserve the character of the area and how to protect local green spaces.

Vicky Anfilogoff, the chairman of the Langford & Ulting Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group, said: “This is great news for Langford and Ulting. We want to ensure that the village is a pleasant place to live and we’re keen to make sure it doesn’t lose its character. The neighbourhood plan will give the people of the village a chance to have a real input into how Langford and Ulting develop over the next 15 years.”

Residents Survey - Autumn 2012

A survey was hand delivered to all properties in Langford and Ulting.  Please make sure you fill yours in and it will be collected in the week after half term.

Residents plan future of Langford and Ulting

Langford and Ulting residents were all invited to join two focus group events in June and July 2013. This was an opportunity to ask questions, give us your views and talk about how we see the future of our village.

The Langford & Ulting Neighbourhood Plan will give the village a major say on how the area will develop including how to preserve the character of Langford and Ulting and how to protect our local green space.

Grant funding

The Parish Council has recently been awarded a £7000 grant by the Supporting Communities in Neighbourhood Planning Programme led by Locality in association with RTPI/Planning Aid England, CDF and partners, available through the My Community Rights website.  This will be used to pay for a planning consultant to help us write our neighbourhood plan.

Resident's Survey 2014

A second survey was hand delivered to all properties in Langford and Ulting.  This was everyone's chance to have their say on how you think Langford & Ulting will look like in 15 years time.

Business Survey 2014

A survey was hand delivered to all known businesses in Langford and Ulting.

Housing Needs Survey 2014

A survey was hand delivered to all properties in Langford and Ulting in November. 

Regulation 14 Pre-Submission Consultation (now closed)

The pre-submission draft of the Neighbourhood Plan is completed and is ready for your views and comments from 2nd March to 17th April 2015.    

Please let us have your comments on the Consultation Form which can be downloaded from the Pre-Submission link on this website.  

All email responses to the Parish Clerk (ultingcattery@gmail.com) by 17th April 2015. 

Art Show - 28th /29th March 2015

Come and talk to us about the Draft Neighbourhood Plan.

Drop - In Session - 11th April 2015

St Giles Church, 10am - Noon

We will be there to answer your questions. 

Grant News

A further grant of £3375 has been awarded to the Parish Council by Groundwork on behalf of the Community Rights Programme, funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government.  This will be used to pay for a planning consultant to help us reach the Regulation 15 consultation stage of the Neighbourhood Plan process and a pre-submission healthcheck by an Independent Examiner. 

Screening Opinion - 5th March 2015

Maldon District  Council were asked to provide a Screening Opinion to ensure that environmental and habitat   considerations had been incorporated into the draft plan in accordance with the regulations, which also includes consultation with Historic England, Natural England and the Environment Agency.

Health Check

A health check of the amended draft Neighbourhood Plan was carried out by a Neighbourhood Plan examiner during August 2015.  His advice will be incorporated into the Regulation 15 Submission version.

Further Grant News

The Parish Council was successful in their bid for a further £3000 grant from Groundwork on behalf of the Community Rights Programme, funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government.  This will be used to pay for a planning consultant to help us with the policy for New Housing for Local People in the Village, liaising with Maldon District Council officers and reaching the Regulation 15 submission stage of the Neighbourhood Plan process.

Regulation 15

The Parish Council formally approved the Neighbourhood Plan and supporting documents at their meeting on Monday 30th November 2015. The documents are available on Submission Neighbourhood Plan.  There will be a further consultation organised by Maldon District Council before the next stage of the process, when the Plan is examined.   

Regulation 16 Consultation (Maldon District Council)

The consultation period started on Thursday 10th December 2015 and closed at 5pm on Thursday 4th February 2016. Representations were invited from any person who lives, works or carries on business in the neighbourhood area.  

Examination

Maldon District Council received the Examiner's Report in April.

Update on progress - October 2016

Subsequent to Maldon District Council’s receipt of the Examiner’s Report, the majority of the modifications proposed were agreed. Regarding Policy 9, options for progressing the Neighbourhood Plan were as follows:

• Leave out Policy 9 and proceed to referendum
• Maldon District Council to accept going forward with current Policy 9 (not advised by Maldon District Council solicitor)
• Amend original Policy 9 with assistance from Maldon District Council officers

The Parish Council agreed that they would work with Maldon District Council and revise Policy 9.

Once agreement has been reached the Parish Council have been advised to withdraw the Neighbourhood Plan and resubmit to Maldon District Council for a further Regulation 16 consultation and examination.

At the Parish Council meeting on 18th October, the revised wording for Policy 9 (see below), which had been drawn up in conjunction with Maldon District Council was agreed and councillors agreed to withdraw the Neighbourhood Plan. Please note all documents relating to the Submission Neighbourhood Plan and the associated Examiner's Report have been removed from the website as requested by Maldon District Council.

Policy 9 (Amended wording - Please note this may be subject to further amendment)

Sites for single plot housing will be permitted to provide custom or self-build homes for people with a local connection.  A local connection is defined as someone who has lived in the parish for the majority of the last ten years and is currently resident in the parish or who has parents or children living in the parish with ten years continuous residency.  

Development should: 

• Be adjacent and well related to an existing dwelling and not an isolated site 
• Not have a harmful effect on visual and landscape attributes of the area or other adverse environmental impacts and 
• Not have unacceptable impacts on highway safety.

 Planning permission will be usually granted subject to a planning obligation restricting occupancy to people who meet the local connection criteria.

Further Grant News

The Parish Council was successful in their bid for a further £1375 grant from Groundwork on behalf of the Community Rights Programme, funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government.  This will be used to pay for a planning consultant to help us with post-examination discussions with Maldon District Council and assistance with preparing the final version of the Plan.

Update on progress - March 2017

After a change of staff at Maldon District Council, the Parish Council were advised that the reworded Policy 9 above would not be supported and issued a Withdrawal Statement.  See: Withdrawal Statement   At a Parish Council meeting on 29th March 2017 it was decided that there was a possiblity that site allocations for a small number of houses, a housing criteria policy and a rural exceptions policy could be developed to replace Policy 9.  The aim would be to provide housing of the right type and in the right location based on local housing need. 

May 2017

A call for sites form will be circulated with the Summer newsletter and sent to landowners in the parish. This exercise will not in itself decide whether a site would be allocated for development by the neighbourhood plan nor will it commit the proposer to applying for planning permission but it will help the parish council to better understand the needs and wishes of the residents.

June 2017

Langford & Ulting Neighbourhood Plan - Call for Sites

Langford & Ulting Parish Council is looking at the potential availability of land to enable the provision of the kinds of housing that are needed in the Parish up to 2029.  The Parish Council is particularly interested in receiving details about sites that might be suitable for a small number of affordable houses, smaller houses and bungalows to address local needs.  This exercise is being undertaken as part of the evidence base to support the preparation of the Langford & Ulting Neighbourhood Plan.  This form should identify sites which will then be considered by an independent consultant for their suitability over the lifetime of the plan.

Please use a separate Site Submission Form for each site and complete the form to the best of your knowledge.  (Please note this is not an online form, responses will need to be sent via email or by post to the address below).

A map showing exact site location and boundary in red must be submitted.

It is important to be clear that submitting land for consideration does not mean that it will necessarily be allocated in the Neighbourhood Plan, nor does it mean that it is more likely to gain planning permission.  At this stage the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group is simply interested in considering all the possible options for development in the Parish. Sites submitted to the Parish Council will be in the public domain and the information submitted will not be treated as confidential.

The consultation closed 28th July 2017.

December 2017

The Parish Council was recently notified that Locality had confirmed that the Parish Council’s application for Technical support had been approved. The clerk had spoken to the consultant from AECOM who will be working with the Parish Council and discussed the information that she would require. A desk study will be performed, followed by site visits and then a report should be received in February 2018. 

The Site Assessment Report can be found in the Neighbourhood Plan Documents section.

November 2018

At the Parish Council meeting held on 20th November 2018, councillors agreed that the plan would be updated following the adoption of the Maldon Local Development Plan in July 2017 and the revised National Planning Policy Framework 2018 without Policy 9, New Housing in the Parish for Local People.  All amendments proposed by the Examiner to be accepted,

Housing Needs Survey 2019

A survey was hand delivered to all properties in Langford and Ulting and the RCCE produced a report in June 2019.

July 2019

At a Parish Council meeting held on 2nd July 2019 councillors discussed the points made by Maldon District Council after their light touch Basic Conditions Review.  MDC advised that Policy 10, Energy Efficiency and Sustainability should be removed and a new policy relating to the Essex Coast Recreational disturbance Avoidance and Mitigation Strategy be inserted.  The Pre-Submission draft plan was agreed and would then be submitted to MDC for SEA/HRA Screening Opinion.

Screening Opinion

Consultation with statutory bodies concluded 13th September 2019.  

The Regulation 14 draft Langford & Ulting Neighbourhood Plan is not likely to have significant environmental effects and therefore an SEA is not required. The assessment indicated that there are likely to be no significant negative effects on the European designated sites resulting from the policies detailed within the draft Neighbourhood Plan. Therefore, a full Habitat Regulations Assessment is not required for the Regulation 14 draft of the Neighbourhood Plan. The principal reasons for this conclusion are:

• There are no sites identified for development in the Neighbourhood Plan;
• The Neighbourhood Plan focuses on protecting the quality of the village and its environment; it is considered that the Plan’s likely impact will have a positive effect on the environment;
• The scale of the development supported by the Neighbourhood Plan is minor, and it is not expected to result in significant effects on the protected sites 

Regulation 14 Pre-Submission Consultation

The pre-submission draft of the Neighbourhood Plan has been completed and is ready for your views and comments from Tuesday 5th November to Monday 16th December 2019 at 5pm.

Please let us have your comments on the Consultation Form which can be downloaded from the Pre-Submission link on this website.  

All email responses to the Parish Clerk (langford.ulitng.pc@gmail.com) by 16th December 2019.

December 2019

The Regulation 14 consultation is now closed.  

The responses received will be reviewed and the Pre-Submission Plan amended  before submission to Maldon District Council.

November 2020

The Neighbourhood Plan, Consultation Statement and Basic Conditions Statement were submitted to Maldon District Council on 25th November 2020.  The next stage will be a further six week consultation period.  After this, the Neighbourhood Plan will be examined and if the proposed modifications are accepted, the Plan will proceed to Referendum.

January 2021

Regulation 16 Consultation (now closed)

The consultation is open between Friday 15 January and closes at 12 noon on Friday 12 March 2021.  All comments must be received before the end of the consultation.   For more information see:  Langford and Ulting | Community Led Planning & Neighbourhood Plans | Maldon District Council

July 2021

An Independent Examiner has been appointed to examine the Langford & Ulting Neighbourhood Plan. The Examiner is Andrew Ashcroft MRTPI. The Examination commenced in July 2021.  For more information see:  Langford and Ulting | Community Led Planning & Neighbourhood Plans | Maldon District Council 

August 2021

The examination has now been completed.

January 2022

A notice of referendum was published for the Langford and Ulting Neighbourhood Plan Referendum which took place on 3rd March 2022.