Neighbourhood Plan for Belper

The new Neighbourhood Plan for Belper website has gone live: containing more information about the direction of the NP4B. There will, apparently, be much more content added in the next few weeks. Most importantly there are contact details as suggestions and comments are eagerly sought. The website describes the Neighbourhood Plan thus:

Following meetings during the summer a number of local residents have begun work to draft a local Neighbourhood plan. This will enable all people living in the area to join together to comment on how we would like our town to develop over the next 10 to 15 years. Your views will be sought on matters such as new housing development, leisure and transport facilities, opportunities for retail and employment and more generally how we want the Belper area to feel as a place to live and work.  The Steering group will be holding meetings and seeking the views of local residents, business people and landowners during a consultation period which will culminate in a local referendum to be held in May 2017.

If you want to know more or become involved you can contact the group via NPlan4B@gmail.com

An article in the Belper News suggested that the NP4B is a reaction to AVBC being unable to come up with a local plan. The NP4B is far more than that.

The NP4B Steering Group have held a series of meetings over the past three months concentrating on the scope of the plan and the boring business of how best to organise themselves. It should get much more interesting when they get to the stage of public meetings being planned for early 2016. They have sorted out six distinct topics of interest:

1. Community & Leisure
2. Built Environment/ Design & Conservation
3. Employment & Local Economy
4. Culture, Heritage & Religion
5. Infrastructure, Transport & Travel, Energy & Outlying Neighbourhoods
6. Green Open Spaces

Each of these topics contains a plethora of sub-components, which will soon be listed on the website. Each topic is “championed” by a facilitator who will be collating data, organising meetings and gathering the opinions and ideas from interested parties. Ideally, special interest groups/clubs/organisations or individuals should contact NP4B indicating a desire to assist with one or more of the topics. It is hoped that the facilitators will cultivate networks that reach right into the community so no voice goes unheard, nobody is forgotten.

The Steering Group is currently grappling with the problem of getting an initial information sheet to each household in the Belper area, from Blackbrook to Bargate, Milford/Makeney to Far Laund; the parish of Belper comprising over 9,400 homes.

All this activity will culminate with a Belper Plan being submitted to a government inspector and, once rubber-stamped will be subject to a referendum planned to coincide with the county council elections in May 2017.

In addition, every monthly Transition Belper meeting will now have half its time dedicated to discussing various aspects of the plan and open to all – whether Transition Belper supporters or not. Meetings are at Strutts Community Centre, Derby Road on the first Tuesday of each month. Meetings start at 7.30 with the NP4B being discussed from 8.30

Nailed will keep you fully informed of NP4B progress, consultations and ideas.

John Porter and David George