The people of Abingdon are invited to comment on three more topics for the neighbourhood plan. They are:
* Travel, access and movement (A 20 MPH limit has already been requested by Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council. The neighbourhood plan has a map of proposed changes to encourage cycling and pedestrians along many of the town’s through roads. )
* Business and employment (Allow more integrated employment close to people’s homes. This is in addition to the current business parks, shopping areas, schools and health centres.)
* Families and young people (Encourage pupils to walk and cycle to school with play-on-the-way schemes and hangout places.)
People can still comment on the other three topics.
After this consultation, the neighbourhood plan will be submitted for an independent examination to ensure it is complete.
The plan would then be put forward to an Abingdon-wide referendum next year. If adopted, the plan would influence planning decisions and help set the agenda for council actions and decisions over the next fifteen years.
To comment on any of the topics, visit https://www.abingdon-neighbourhood-plan.org/.
We’ve just had a consultation called CARF. Why do we need another one? What is this council doing? Duping us into thinking they are doing something while spending millions on consultations run by people who don’t live in Abingdon. Then they’ll tell us they haven’t any money left to actually do anything! What did we elect these people for?
The Neighbourhood Plan is much bigger than CARF – it is about the whole of Abingdon, including, most importantly, the areas where people live. Work on it has been under way for some time, this is just the latest phase, and most of it is being done by volunteers, with the consultants pulling it together into presentations such as this.
In fact, the two exercises are working together – much of the material in the CARF proposals was based on the first stage of the NP.
Also, if approved, the NP will carry statutory weight, which CARF won’t.. That means that planning/development proposals which are not consistent with the plan will not be approved and those that are should get a fair wind.
Don’t worry if its anything like the “consultations” oxford had about the LTN’s or the new improved cycle way on Morrell Avenue the decisions already been made. It’s a box ticking exercise.
Thanks for clarifying Hester. I did wonder what all this was about.