THE public is currently invited to comment on a plan which will outline the future of Crediton until 2033.

The recently-published Crediton Neighbourhood Draft Plan makes suggestions and recommendations on a number of areas including new development, community and facilities, the town centre, transport, sustainability, employment, heritage and environment.

The document includes plan statements on the High Street, sustainability, heritage and biodiversity and also includes a Community Action Plan.

The plan has been developed on behalf of the Town Council by the Crediton Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group. Members of the group include town councillors and community volunteers.

The group has held a series of consultations with the community of Crediton over several years. The results of all the consultations have been worked up into the current draft.

COMMUNITY

A Neighbourhood Plan is a relatively new addition to the planning system that was introduced as part of the Localism Act (2011).

It allows a community to add local detail to national planning policies and the district planning policies which are laid out in the Local Plan.

A Neighbourhood Plan can be specifically tailored to the needs of the community that creates it but it does not mean it can just do what it likes.

The plan says: “Whilst we must consult our community for its views, our plan must also conform with national and district policies.

“Crediton Town Council has regularly held consultation events since 2009. These events enabled us to create a Town Plan in 2011 which identified clear issues within the town.

“Many of these issues remained unresolved years later with no planning route to resolve them.

“The lack of legal status of the Town Plan had meant that the wishes of the town were being overlooked when planning applications were assessed.

“In 2013, the town council therefore took the decision to create a Neighbourhood Plan which would become a legal planning document for the town.

VISIONS AND PRIORITIES

“Our plan represents the community’s vision and priorities for how they would like to see Crediton develop over the plan period to 2033.

“It sets out planning policies against which development coming forward in the town, will be considered – helping to shape the town and reflect the community’s aspirations.

“Policies contained within a Neighbourhood Plan, once ‘made’, form part of the development plan for the area and applications for planning permission must be considered in accordance with these policies, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.”

The document includes recommendations on affordable housing, custom and self build housing, housing design, a community hub, young people’s facilities, Queen Elizabeth’s School, town centre development and living, public realm, car parking, shop fronts, footpaths and cycle routes, a Crediton to Exeter Cycle path, development along principal routes and off-street parking.

It also includes proposals on renewable energy, energy diversification, community scale renewable energy, mobile telephone coverage, change of use of allocated employment land, re-development and expansion of existing town centre employment sites and re-development of the Mill Street industrial and commercial area.

With regards to Heritage, the plan makes recommendations about the town’s historic character, historic landscape character, development within the Crediton Conservation area, Crediton Railway Station and retrofitting energy measures.

Environment recommendations include proposals about open spaces, trees, flood plains, green infrastructure and views and vistas.

Footpath improvements, additional footways, crossing point projects, open spaces, green corridors, tourism, traffic flows, heritage assets, orchards, employment sites and much more are also included.

VIEW IT ONLINE

The Crediton Neighbourhood Draft Plan can be viewed online at the Neighbourhood Plan website: www.creditonnp.co.uk – where you will find all the evidence supporting the plan and a lot of background information.

A direct link to the Plan is on the Town Council website: www.crediton.gov.uk .

Printed copies of the plan are available to view at the Crediton Town Council office, 8a North Street, Crediton and at Crediton Library in Belle Parade.

Comments on the draft are invited until Monday, May 20.

They may be sent to The Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group, Crediton Town Council Office, 8a North Street, EX17 2BT or emailed to: [email protected] .

In early March the town council held a consultation event at the Boniface Centre, which included Neighbourhood Plan policies. People were able to comment on the draft policies and the council says that these will be reviewed along with all further comments received on the full plan by May 20.

The Steering Group will then have the task of going through the comments and amending the plan as necessary.

It will also have to prepare a statement explaining how all the issues raised during the preparation of the plan have been addressed and how comments from the consultations have been dealt with.

The Plan will then be sent to Mid Devon District Council which will check that it has been produced according to the regulations and publicise it for further comment for six weeks.

Next, the district council will appoint an independent examiner who will consider whether the plan meets the legal requirements.

The examiner may suggest further modifications before the plan can proceed to a referendum and the community can vote on it.

Town clerk, Mrs Clare Dalley, said: “It’s been a long journey and we’re not at the end of it yet. But we hope that people will read the draft plan and send us any comments. Community input is important and we want to make sure the plan reflects local views.”