Burnham and Highbridge residents are being invited to an open meeting this evening where the first steps towards creating a new Neighbourhood Plan for the two towns will be made.
Once in place, the plan will provide residents with new powers under the 2011 Localism Act to decide the future shape of the two towns, from choosing where new homes and shops are built, to having a say on housing and business types and the appearance of new buildings.
The open meeting will be held tonight (Thursday) at 7pm in the Town Council offices in Jaycroft Road, Burnham.
This follows over two years of consideration of the issue by the Council which culminated in a report to February’s meeting from councillors Phil Harvey, Chris Williams and Helen Groves, recommending that a Neighbourhood Plan was produced.
After long discussion, reported here, councillors accepted a motion from Cllr Petrer Burridge-Clayton that a decision be made when the council knew the extent of interest from residents, leading to the setting up of today’s meeting.
Councillor Phil Harvey told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “Chris, Helen and I have put in a great deal of effort recently in trying to get to a point where the majority of Town Councillors feel able to make a decision on neighbourhood planning.”
“At the last meeting our report covered the majority of issues and this meeting with residents should answer the last two questions – how much interest is there and what level of commitment can people give? Anyone who expressed interest has already been invited but it is an open meeting and the more people who attend the better. Please come along!”
He continued: “We have a £20,000 grant for this work but Sedgemoor District Council wants to know if we are going to proceed. Otherwise the money will be allocated to other parishes within the district that are keen to go ahead. The question is – do the people of Burnham and Highbridge want to take up this challenge?”
Neighbourhood planning is one of the Government’s key localism policies. One government document on it states: “In theory, planning was always supposed to give local communities a say in decisions that affect them. But in practice, communities have often found it hard to have a meaningful say. The government wants to put power back in the hands of local residents, employees and businesses, councils and civic leaders – those who know best the needs of their local areas.”
