Sandhurst Parish Council

Sandhurst Neighbourhood Development Plan is now open for the Pre-Submission Version Submission Consultation (Regulation 14)

Comments are invited on the document from 25^th June 2024 to 20^th August 2024

Sandhurst Parish Council is pleased to announce that the Pre-Submission Draft Neighbourhood Development for Sandhurst is available for comment. This is a statutory Pre-Submission Consultation in accordance with the requirements of the Localism Act 2011 and Regulation 14 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 (as amended).

The consultation will run from 9am on 25^th June 2024 until 5pm on 20^th August 2024.

At the request of Sandhurst Parish Council, in September 2014, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council designated the Sandhurst neighbourhood area, which shares its boundary with Sandhurst Parish. A steering group comprising local councillors and volunteers from the community was set up to lead the project to develop the Sandhurst Neighbourhood Development Plan.

The Neighbourhood Plan is a document that sets out planning and land-use policies relating to the Sandhurst neighbourhood area. It is a formal document that sets out, in development terms, how land should be used within the parish, as well as planning policies to influence development proposals.

The Neighbourhood Plan must undergo a rigorous process, including a series of consultations, an independent examination and finally a local referendum, as ultimately it will form part of the development plan for Tunbridge Wells, sitting alongside the Tunbridge Wells Local Plan. If successful, it will be used alongside the Local Plan policies to determine the outcome of planning applications within Sandhurst.

A great deal of work has been undertaken to reach the point of having a draft Plan, which we are now consulting on.

The following documents are available to view as pdfs, which form part of the Pre-Submission Draft Plan:

• The Pre-Submission Version Sandhurst Neighbourhood Development Plan
• The Sandhurst Design Guidance and Codes
• The Sandhurst Housing Needs Assessment
• Screening Determination Statement (Strategic Environmental Assessment/ Habitats Regulations Assessment) – these determine that the Neighbourhood Development Plan is unlikely to have significant environmental impacts

You can also request to borrow a hard copy of the Plan at from the Parish Council, by using the contacts below.

We welcome your views on the draft policies. Please submit your responses in one of the following ways:

• Using the online survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SandhurstReg14

• By email to: clerk@sandhurstparish.co.uk

• By post to: Sandhurst Parish Council, Old School, Back Road, Sandhurst, Kent, TN18 5JS

If you require assistance in viewing the Neighbourhood Plan documents, please contact the Parish Council on: 01580 850273(Parish Office, opening hours: Tuesday (by request) and Thursdays 10am to 12pm).

Responses must be received by 5pm on 20^th August 2024.

A summary of all comments will be made publicly available following the consultation, and each will be carefully reviewed by the Steering Group. The Neighbourhood Plan will be amended accordingly into its Submission Version, which will be formally submitted to Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, who will undertake a further round of consultation. After this, the Plan will be independently examined and, if successful, will proceed to a local referendum.

Data protection

Please note that personal information provided in your responses will be confidential and processed in line with the Data Protection Act 1998 and the General Data Protection Regulations. The Parish Council will process your details in relation to the preparation of this Neighbourhood Plan document only.

As part of the Consultation and in line with the new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), when responding to the consultation, we kindly request you to please confirm that you are happy for the Parish Council to pass on your contact details (name, address/email address) to Tunbridge Wells Borough Council so that they can contact you at the next Submission Version (Regulation 16) stage of consultation.