THE VISION: There are facilities for all needs – for health, social & wellbeing, local food produce, education, culture, retail, sport and recreation. They are inclusive spaces that connect and bring people together linked to active travel and green spaces, car parking and electric vehicle charging.
Below you can see our individual policies for this chapter. Click to expand the aims, issues and objectives.
The parish is fortunate to have a number of allotments which are treasured by residents for their opportunities of home-grown fruit and veg, self-sufficiency, spending time with nature and connection and friendships with fellow gardeners. Demand for allotments is high and there are waiting lists for them with a move towards plot sharing.
Aim: To protect existing allotment space and support the provision of new space, including smaller community growing spaces.
Key policy points:
- Existing allotment space is retained.
- Major development proposals provide additional growing spaces
Indicators of success:
- Number of allotment spaces in the parish
Community facilities such as the library, churches, Millennium Centre social club, open spaces do already provide important places for residents to connect, giving a sense of ‘community’ and belonging as well as their primary purpose. Over the period of the B&L NDP the levels of growth is expected to be significant and it will be important for any development to come with the required additional community facilities: in particular this community has limited sport facilities. As a result of the NDP process, residents are helping to shape these facilities (through the consultation process) for the benefit of the whole parish. For example, residents have particularly commented on need for more recreation facilities such as a football pitch that meets requirements of governing bodies.
Aim: To safeguard against the loss / change of use of existing facilities and to support the provision of new/expanded facilities to meet the needs of a growing population.
Key policy points:
- Existing facilities are safeguarded
- New/ expanded facilities provided – to be identified.
Indicators of success:
- Facilities safeguarded (recorded against baseline list of ‘key’ facilities).
- Number of new facilities provided – monitor nature, location, delivery against EHDC quantity and quality parameters (as they apply) and Sport England criteria (re: sports provision)
Health and education is outside the remit of the B&L NDP. However, as these areas are such a fundamental requirement for the community ensuring adequate provision must be considered as part of planning for new developments: particularly where current services were designed for lower levels of demand.
Aim: To safeguard against the loss of existing provision and support additional provision as required.
Key policy points:
- Existing facilities are safeguarded
- New/ expanded facilities provided – as required
Key indicators of success:
- Number of health / education facilities in the Parish compared to baseline
