There are a number of stages to developing the GXplan but the most important one is to ensure that our community understands the process and significantly, contribute ideas and suggestions for the future direction of Gerrards Cross.
For more information :
Steering Group Meeting; 10am at Memorial Centre, our consultants Plan-et joined us via Zoom. We discussed and agreed our responses to the Regulation 16 representations and the pre-report questions received from the appointed Independent Examiner. See full minutes here. For all other documents and responses to the Regulation 16 Consultation please see documents here:
The Gerrards Cross Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group received official notification from Buckinghamshire Council that they had found a suitable Independent Examiner to examine and provide a report on our Draft Plan. Having checked the Examiner’s Credentials the Steering Group have given approval for this appointment. For more information please use link
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/neighbourhood-planning/
Who are the examiners?
Independent examiners have to be suitably qualified and experienced professionals. Most will be chartered town planners, but examiners also include planning lawyers, architects and surveyors and other related professionals. Often examiners will have worked in the public, private or academic sectors and have a wide range of experience. They must be independent: this means that they cannot have an interest in any land that may be affected by the neighbourhood plan or other conflicts of interest.
How neighbourhood plans are funded The Government has allocated over £45m between 2018 – 2024 to support the development of neighbourhood plans or neighbourhood development orders.
It typically costs between £15,000 to £50,000 to produce a neighbourhood plan, including the referendum and examination. Costs may be higher if technical studies need to be conducted to support the plan.The cost of developing a neighbourhood plan is the responsibility of the parish or town council or neighbourhood forum and further through their Local Council (ie GXTC & Buckinghamshire Council) who has the duty to pay for the examination and referendum. As per the Localism Act 2011, the business community can contribute to the costs plus Grant Funds are available through
https://neighbourhoodplanning.org/about/grant-funding/
The Public Consultation of the Draft Gerrards Cross Neighbourhood Plan via Bucks Council was completed and closed 16th May 2024 at 11.59. We are awaiting the appointment by Buckinghamshire Council of an Independent Examiner ; during this examination the GX Steering Group will be tasked with answering questions based on the Regulation 16 Consultation responses. To see the full Process please see our Process & Timeline page here
The Gerrards Cross Neighbourhood Plan Public Consultation via Bucks Council closed 16th May 2024 at 11.59. To find out ‘What Happens Next’ use link:
https://yourvoicebucks.citizenspace.com/planning/gerrards-cross-neighbourhood-plan/
Please see our latest article here
The Gerrards Cross Neighbourhood Plan Public Consultation via Bucks Council starts 28th March closing 16th May 2024. Full details via link: https://yourvoicebucks.citizenspace.com/planning/gerrards-cross-neighbourhood-plan/
Buckinghamshire Council start the Regulation 16 Submission Consultation of Gerrards Cross Draft Neighbourhood Plan – this will run for 7 weeks (allowing for Easter Bank Holidays).
Use the link below to see a map showing the Status of our Plan and all the made and emerging neighbourhood plans in Buckinghamshire.
Following our meeting on 9th November 2023, the Steering Group discussed ASSETS OF COMMUNITY VALUE https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/community-and-safety/community-right-to-bid-assets-of-community-value/
During our 14th September meeting we noted a desire to have GX Memorial Centre designated an Asset of Community Value (ACV). This means that should it come up for sale, the Community via the Town Council would have six months to make a bid before it went on the open market. In November 2023 we notified the GXCA of our intention to Nominate The Community Centre as an ACV, this nomination was then passed to GXTC to process via Buckinghamshire Council. We were formally advised that this Nomination has now been Accepted (see formal Acceptance here).
At Full Council meeting on 27th November GX Town Council approved and agreed that the Submission Draft Plan be put forward for examination to Buckinghamshire Council. Submission to our Local Planning Authority is the next stage in the Neighbourhood Plan Process.
Steering Group Meeting; 10am via Zoom with our Consultants; Plan-et. We agreed that the updated Submission Draft Plan is ready go to GXTC for review and agreement for the next stage of formal examination by Bucks Council – for details see full minutes.
Comments received following the Regulation 14 public consultation can be viewed here.
The Gerrards Cross Neighbourhood Plan have been offered a grant of up to £7k via Gerrards Cross Town Council.
We were eligible as part of the Neighbourhood Planning Programme, funded by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (DLUHC),
Steering Group Meeting; 10am at Memorial Centre, our consultants Plan-et joined us via Zoom. We reviewed and discussed the Regulation 14 Consultation responses and next steps– for details see full minutes.
The Draft Plan Pre-Submission Regulation 14 Public Consultation finished yesterday 27th August 2023; all responses are logged and will be reviewed and discussed by the Steering Group in due course. During the Consultation period we have also consulted with our Statutory Consultees plus neighbouring Town/ Parish Councils: Beaconsfield, Chalfont St Peter and Denham.
The Draft Plan Pre-Submission Regulation 14 Public Consultation finishes on 27th August 2023.
Please see our latest article here
A Draft Plan summary leaflet has been delivered to each household. Steering Group Volunteers have today completed delivery of leaflets to all businesses and retail premises in Gerrards Cross Town Centre. See Draft Plan & Appendices.
Check-out facebook post about Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group Community Engagement activity.
The Draft Plan Pre-Submission Regulation 14 Public Consultation starts today; 3rd July and continues until 27th August 2023.
After this period the Steering Group will collate all comments and make any necessary changes. The Plan will then be submitted to Buckinghamshire Council who will conduct their own consultation and appoint an independent examiner.
The Steering Group are working towards the Regulation 14 Public Consultation of the Gerrards Cross Draft Plan, the planned launch will start on 3rd July and continue until 27th August 2023. A summary leaflet will be delivered to each household and a full version available on this website from the above date.
Steering Group Meeting with our consultants Plan-et at 9.15am via Zoom. This meeting dealt specifically with preparations and actions needed to bring the final Draft Plan to the public via the Regulation 14 consultation. – for details see full minutes.
Steering Group Meeting 10am in Room 2 at The Memorial Centre. The main purpose of this meeting was to carry out a review of the just received Pre-Submission Draft of the GX Neighbourhood Plan in preparation for the Regulation 14 Pre-submission Consultation- for details see full minutes.
Next Steps – Zoom discussion with our Consultants Plan-et; to agree to review and update Draft Plan following receipt of HRA and SEA Assessment reports (see December Timeline update below and discussion notes) plus any other updates needed to move the Plan forward to achieve the next milestone in this Process :
Regulation 14 – Pre-submission consultation of the draft neighbourhood plan – this will take a few months to prepare for and present to Steering Group for approval plus adoption by Gerrards Cross Town Council, following this the Draft Plan will be published to bring it to the attention of all residents and businesses in the neighbourhood plan area with a copy to any statutory consultation bodies and Buckinghamshire Planning Authority.
This public consultation will last for six weeks.
Gerrards Cross Neighbourhood Plan have been awarded a Grant via Locality https://neighbourhoodplanning.org/ for this pre-submission consultation.
Next Steps – Having now received the legally required statutory assessment reports; Habitats Regulation Assessment HRA & Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA (both of which are available on the documents page of this website) – both reports make recommendations which we will need to incorporate into the Draft Plan and because this process has been lengthy the Steering Group will need to carry out a complete review and update before we can move on to the next stage. Another consideration to be included in this update are any changes to our ward boundaries following the recent Draft Proposal Consultation for Buckinghamshire from The Local Government Boundary Commission for England. For more information: https://www.bcereviews.org.uk/
As recorded last month the second of our commissioned reports; Strategic Environment Assessment Report (SEA) has now been finalised and approved by the GXPlan Steering Group, both reports were deemed necessary by Natural England – ‘ Where a neighbourhood plan allocates sites for development. Where the neighbourhood area contains sensitive natural or heritage assets that may be affected by the proposals in the plan.’ The SEA report can be viewed here.
The Gerrards Cross Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group have now received the first of the commissioned reports required by Natural England. The Habitats Regulation Assessment report has been circulated to the Steering Group for review. This report makes recommendations for inclusion in our Draft Neighbourhood Plan. Once fully reviewed this report and the awaited Strategic Environment Assessment report (SEA) will be available on this website – see Documents / Meeting Minutes page.
As updated in June our Grant applications were successful and both the required assessments: Habitats Regulation Assessment (HRA) as recommended by Natural England and a Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA) have been commissioned using expert consultants via Locality.org.uk., both assessments are progressing. We are due to receive an initial ‘first stage’ SEA scoping report for review before the full assessment can proceed.
Following our grant application last month we are pleased to advise that the Gerrards Cross Neighbourhood Plan has been awarded a grant in the sum of £2,472.00. This Grant has been funded by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).
This Grant will go directly towards the costs involved in commissioning the required Habitats Regulation Assessment (HRA) as recommended by Natural England. During ongoing investigations into this assessment the Steering Group were advised that a Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA) is now also required. Both these important assessments have now been commissioned and once completed will be incorporated into our Neighbourhood Plan.
We are currently busy working on:
Following approval from Gerrards Cross Town Council the Draft Plan was forwarded to Buckinghamshire Council for the formal screening process. The provisional opinion of Buckinghamshire Council highlighted the need for the following :
The updated Draft Plan is now ready for the screening process via our Local Planning Authority. To start this process the Steering Group provided Gerrards Cross Town Council with the Draft Plan for their prior review & approval. Once approved the Clerk will forward to Buckinghamshire Council for the formal screening process.
Steering Group Meeting at 18.30 via Zoom. The main purpose of this meeting was to carry out a review of Draft 4 of the GX Neighbourhood Plan- for details see full minutes.
Steering Group Meeting at 18.30 via Zoom. The main purpose of this meeting was to carry out a review of Draft 3 of the GX Neighbourhood Plan ; some corrections, deletions and additions were made. A Final Draft will be reviewed in a few weeks time. It was agreed that a design code was not required; The Townscape to be used as a guide. Some actions for SG members were identified ; a report on shop signage size and shuttering currently in our retail areas plus identify our ‘core retail’ area. Final list of Green Gap areas between Gerrards Cross and Beaconsfield plus Gerrards Cross and Denham needed and a map to be provided.
The ‘ next steps’ were detailed as our Draft Plan is nearing completion and once ready it will be submitted to the Local Planning Authority for a ‘health check’ and Strategic Environmental Assessment to ensure it meets all Basic Conditions.
The Steering Group having reviewed the Draft Plan have updated to include a list of all current retail outlets in the Town Centre and a list of Heritage Assets. Awaiting updated Draft for further discussion and review at our next meeting in September 2021
Draft Plan circulated to Steering Group for review and discussion
Steering Group Meeting held on Zoom at 6.30pm
Discussions and updates in respect of:
Call for Sites – assessments and final agreed sites
Housing Design Guide to be discussed and finalised and a grant is available to help with this
Community Assets discussed and reviewed including the process
Heritage Assets to be listed and agreed
Doctor Surgery is more complex than merely finding suitable premises
After so much time it was agreed that the Steering Group must urgently review an up-to-date Draft Plan
GXPlan website under review; updates to include Survey results and removal of ‘Call for Site’ page.
All site submissions passed to the Steering Group for review, once all agreed put forward for suitability assessment.
Call for Sites
An informal invitation to landowners and developers to propose sites, within the parish which might be appropriate for development. This invitation was delivered to each household and business in Gerrards Cross via Gerrards Cross Town Council newsletter – VOICE – November 2020 edition. Submissions by email via the GXPlan website.
Steering Group Meeting
Event preparation
7pm Memorial Centre
Steering Group Meeting held on Zoom at 6.30pm
Housing Needs Assessment report discussed
Fresh Sites identified and put forward for assessment
Received Housing Needs Assessment Report from AECOM for Group review
Local Plan Examination response received and circulated to Steering Group
Received Chiltern and South Bucks Settlement Capacity Study updated January’s 2020 and commissioned
AECOM to provide a Housing Needs Assessment for GX
Sub – Meeting
Call for Sites – to identify possible sites for assessing /submission.
Letter sent to the Programme Officer for the Local Plan Examination; to inform the Independent Examiner of the Chiltern and South Bucks Local Plan that Gerrards Cross is in the process of creating its Neighbourhood Plan and that there are concerning issues we are seeking to address in that Plan
Steering Group Meeting at The Memorial Centre
Results of Under 18’s and 18-50’s received, discussed and ready for inclusion into Draft Plan
Updated Housing Needs Assessment for Gerrards Cross to be requested via LOCALITY
Missing age group surveys were carried out during this time
Photographs for GXPlan taken, reviewed and stored
Draft Plan being worked on
Steering Group Meeting 7.30pm at Memorial Centre.
Presentation by Co-mute, a subscription based community transport service.
Youth Survey – refine and approve. Discussion on how to distribute.
18-50 Survey – refine and approve. Discussion on how to distribute.
Call for sites – explained and sites discussed and identified, standard letter to be reviewed.
Steering Group Meeting 7.30pm at Memorial Centre.
Discussions and actions:
Emerging Local Plan – highlight any possible ‘stand out’ areas which may negatively impact our Neighbourhood Plan and determine next moves.
Review/comment on draft Neighbourhood Plan recently circulated along with required actions.
Revisit and discuss requirement to engage with GX younger people so as to gain full range of opinions not achieved with questionnaire.
Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group made aware of Emerging Chiltern and South Bucks Local Plan public consultation – Start 7th June for 6 weeks.
