Why a Village Design Statement?
Each village has a special character which makes it unique. No village can be frozen in time, but needs to change and adapt to meet the needs of the people who live and work there.
A Village Design Statement was one way that local people could make their views known about the place where they live and start to influence future planning decisions. A design statement formed part of a “Local Development Framework” – a precursor to the current “Local Plan”. A group of planning documents that Planning Officers must take into consideration in reaching their decisions and recommendations.
A Village Design Statement MUST be prepared by and reflect the views of the community. It cannot be created by the parish or district council.
Support
Grant funding from Abbots Bromley Parish Council and East Staffordshire Borough Council helped make this project possible. Support and guidance from officers at ESBC and input from Parish Councilllors in the village also assisted the project. Without such support the project could not have continued.
The creation of an Abbots Bromley Village Design Statement was a community activity and not under the control of the parish or borough councils – although their help and financial support was essential for a successful outcome.
The people
Core Team
From all those invited to participate (either by specific invitations or general local publicity), a core team was formed and they are now working together to move the project forward:
- Linda Fox
- Andy Grondowski
- Bill Richards
- Eric Roy
- Mithra Tonking
Supporters
The project was enabled by help from numerous others around the village. Some took part in the photographic exercise in June 2005 which collected initial pictures and opinions on key characteristics of the village. Others came to the follow-up exhibition and took the opportunity to provide feedback on the initial assessments. Each of these contributions was extremely valuable in widening the community base involved in the project and in helping to make the work more fully representative.
The Document
Village Design Statement
Issue 1 was submitted to East Staffordshire Borough Council in March 2006 and was subsequently accepted as a “planning statement” in the Local Development Framework.
