East Bergholt Parish Council
Neighbourhood Plan Committee

Annual Report
2016

The Neighbourhood Plan Committee is formed mostly from vo lunteers from the Parish who have
worked exceptionally hard to get where we find ourselves today. This year the Committee has achieved
a great deal producing a final draft of the Plan which is currently with the External Examiner.
In more detail the Committee has:
• Run monthly meetings, typically attended by 20-30 people at Gandish Road and the Grange
Caravan Park at East End.
• Secured financial support for £8000 for 2015-2016
• Appointed a well-respected Neighbourhood Plan Examiner to w rite the first version of our Plan
• Based on this, developed the first version of the Plan to produce a draft ensuring this
represented the views of the community expressed in the feedback from the questionnaire
• Consulted with Babergh District Council on the different approaches to calculating housing
requirements
• Run an initial 6 week “Section 14” consultation with Parishioners
and key stakeholders which resulted in 284 comments:
• Appointed an independent Examiner to “healthcheck” our Plan
who stated: “There is a vast amount of information and the group
has obviously worked extremely hard and should be credited for
the amount of detailed work and the accuracy of this work” and “I
confirm that, with the recommendations, the Plan will meet the
Basic Conditions”
• Met with Babergh and the healthcheck examiner to address the
substantive comments raised by Babergh
• After considering and incorporating all the comments, submitted the Plan to Babergh for a
second 6 week consultation period
• Worked with Babergh to appoint an External examiner for the plan, who is currently
considering our Plan
• Responded to a set of questions raised by the examiner and expecting the final Examiner’s
report within the next few weeks
I would personally like to thank:
• Valerie Ayton (Parish Clerk), who is acting as secretary on a voluntary basis, for her dedication
and efforts in supporting the Committee.
• Councillors who have volunteered their time to this Committee
• All Working Group members and particularly their Chairs, for giving a great amount of their
time and effort for the benefit of our community.
Paul Ireland
Chair East Bergholt Parish Council Neighbourhood Plan Committee