Only a dozen respond to town’s key local plan
DISTRICT councillors have been discussing reasons why the Ashbourne Neighbourhood Plan consultation almost fell on deaf ears, with only 12 responses received.
At a meeting last week of the district council’s community and environment committee, members unanimously agreed to put the document, which will steer decisions over the town’s development, through to an examiner – despite concerns over the apparent lack of interest from residents.
Proposing that the plan is passed onto the independent examination phase next month, Councillor Sue Bull, also an Ashbourne town councillor, said she was worried the town was not really behind the scheme.
She said: “It has been a long time in coming forward, this plan, I can remember 2012 when we started it and it’s been pushed around. I find it disappointing there have only been 12 submissions, which doesn’t really look like we have full support at the moment.”
The document was compiled on behalf of the town council and an initial consultation took place in the summer and a separate one began on September 25, involving consultees who had not taken part in the first one. This is due to end on November 6.
Throughout the six-week consultation, documents that make up the neighbourhood plan were available to view by appointment in Ashbourne’s visitor centre and also on the district council’s website.
Of the handful of responses received, nine were considered to be “complete representations”, with two in support of the neighbourhood plan, three objecting to it and four general comments. Among the objections were concerns raised over the time the plan had taken to come out, and the amount of change that had been seen in the town.
Road use, parking, housing and the health of the high street had all undergone major changes, rendering many sections of the plan irrelevant, the representations suggested.
There were also objections to developments proposed on Ashbourne’s airfield, which include a massive housing scheme and commercial and industrial units.
Cllr Steve Wain, who represents Matlock All Saints, asked the district council’s policy manager Mike Hase why he believes there had been such a poor response to the consultation. He asked: “I take Councillor Bull’s point that there has been a disappointing number of responses. What do you think was the reason for the poor response?
“Could it have been that the people of Ashbourne thought the damage had already been caused, by large volumes of housing that have already been allowed to happen?” Mr Hayes said he thought the coronavirus pandemic and the move towards digital meetings and consultations will have had an effect, despite the fact that a physical document was available and it was widely publicised.
He said: “I don’t think we’ve failed in publicising the consultation, I think it’s just circumstances.
“The time that has gone on during the consultation has led to these submissions.
“Had there been something more controversial in the plan, and had there been a lot of allocations over and above what we would have in our Local Plan, that might have then generated a significant number of representations.
“So it could be a combination of timing with the pandemic thrown into the mix.”
The public examination of the Ashbourne Neighbourhood Plan is expected to begin in the new year.
Could it have been that the people of Ashbourne thought the damage had already been done? Steve Wain