It was decided to formally proceed with a Neighbourhood Plan for Ardleigh at the Ardleigh Parish Council meeting in November 2019. See below for the key steps taken since then and work currently in progress.
12 May
See TDC web site for latest information Tendring District Council (tendringdc.uk)
There will be two in-person events in Ardleigh where you can find out more about our Plan.
TDC is hosting two in-person consultation events at Ardleigh Village Hall (17 Station Road,CO7 7RS) on:
These coincide with exhibitions for the Tendring Colchester Border Garden Community consultation.
13 December 2022. The final Plan has now been submitted to Tendring District Council. To download a copy of the plan and supporting documents see 'our plan' tab.
8 August 2022- 12 noon on 23 September 2022. Pre-Submission consultation (Regulation 14) on draft plan see 'our plan' tab
You will be aware that the Parish Council is working on Ardleigh’s Neighbourhood Plan. As part of the Neighbourhood Plan, we are looking to designate a number of sites located throughout the parish as Local Green Spaces.
Local Green Spaces are sites that hold special value to the local community and are worthy of protection.
Our Neighbourhood Plan will contain policies to resist any development of Local Green Spaces that would compromise their special value to the community. Developments that would enhance their special community value will be encouraged.
The Steering Group has already invited Local Green Space nominations from the Parish and has subsequently conducted thorough desktop and field assessments of all the sites nominated.
Following these investigations, 11 sites throughout the parish of Ardleigh have been shortlisted due to their special community value. A comprehensive list of all shortlisted sites can be found in the assessment document in the section above or on this link
The Parish Council is now inviting your comments on these sites. Your comments will be taken into careful consideration by the Working Group and will be used to inform the final list of Local Green Spaces to be designated in the Neighbourhood Plan.
Please refer to the full Green Spaces Assessments document above before commenting
An early draft of the Neighbourhood Plan was shared with Tendring District Council. We have been working with our consultants to finalise Policy headings and content
More than 20 Local Green Spaces Assessments were completed by members of the working group- identifying areas which are felt to be special for reasons of wildlife, heritage, beauty etc. and which should be protected. The image shows just one of these spaces.
A decision was taken to update the Village Design Statement update and incorporate it in to the Plan.
There has also been liaison with Tendring District Council and Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community about effects on Crockleford Heath.
A short video montage of Crockleford Heath was made by members of the working group who walked the area in the early summer https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KSFTCLUagWo_IIBasIlRxBsbVSX0onbH/view?usp=sharing
Results from the big Ardleigh Consultation were analysed and highlights shared (see the 'Have Your Say' tab). Full details can be downloaded from our shared drive. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ugUsKEx4jjKGWWkRsYSoV3jfysDLDnBC?usp=sharing
The Working Group, along with the Consultant, worked through the results and started to draft the Neighbourhood Plan: its Vision and Policy Areas. These will need to generally conform to the Tendring District Council’s Local Plan.Some of the responses and concerns in the Questionnaire will not directly relate to the Neighbourhood Plan and these will need to be considered in a different way.
The second larger consultation questionnaire was published in November 2020 and developed the themes from the initial consultation. It was widely distributed via an online 'survey monkey' link and with paper copies available in local retail outlets. There was a social media campaign on a new Instagram page (@ardelighnp) and facebook (@ardleighpc). We promoted the questionnaire via articles and an insert in the Ardleigh Advertiser and emails to local businesses and contacts and posters around the Parish. Covid-19 restrictions meant that face to face promotion of the consultation was not possible, but we have tried to be creative and persistent to encourage residents to have their say.
The first survey was published in July 2020 and looked at perceived Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) to help us understand the concerns and priorities of our community. More than 100 people responded.
The image shows some of the key words used in your responses.
The results can be seen on this link
https://create.piktochart.com/output/48289459-ardleigh-np-analysis-of-swot-questionnaire
Our progress so far this year includes:
· Formation of the Neighbourhood Plan Working Group
· Formation of the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group
· Formally approved the Terms of Reference- Chaired by Councillor Chris Whitfield (pictured(
· Engaged the support of the RCCE (Rural Community Council for Essex) – a charitable body experience of assisting and engaging other communities in developing their own plans
· Engaged the support of Planning Direct – a specialist planning consultancy
· Drafting a project plan, communication plan and a SWOT questionnaire
· Requested for Tendring District Council to formally approve to designate the whole of the Ardleigh Parish as a Neighbourhood Development Plan Area – this has now been approved
The Neighbourhood Plan Working group continue to meet once a week on a Monday at 6pm via Zoom. The Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group meet once a week on a Thursday at 6pm via Zoom.
If you would like to comment or get involved, please see the Have Your Say Page.