The challenges of monitoring Thame’s Neighbourhood Plan

TO make sure that Thame’s Neighbourhood Plan (TNP) is being adhered to, the town council has appointed a TNP Continuity Officer, Graeme Marland, and has formed a special TNP Continuity Committee to keep a eye on what developers are doing – or not doing, and to ensure that policies around green spaces, infrastructure, the Sports Strategy, transport etc are moved forward.  Read on…

At its meeting on Tuesday (27/09), as well as any progress made by the various working groups within the committee, it discussed how differences of opinion, appeals for priority of treatment from residents or competing organisations would be dealt with.  A Co-ordination Working Group, whose responsibility is to ensure the delivery of the individual components of the TNP, will arbitrate any differences.

Managing demands of a share of the pot

The Committee Chair Bob Austin, told councillors that some of the challenges the group could face would include managing differences between development plans and the fact that residents want to get infrastructure in place first and, as regards Open Spaces, ensuring that no particular area in Thame is disadvantaged in any way.

It emerged that there is a large pot of money contributed to by developers at district council level, for Green Spaces and the Environment, but that there is currently no designated plan to spend it. Cllr David Bretherton, Vice Chair of the TNP Continuity Committee, said that the Lea Park Residents group is asking if it can tap into that pot to improve what is seen as a ‘poorly connected’ estate. He said that there is already a ‘four-figure sum’ available now for such projects and that it was up to the LPRA to put forward ideas to the Communities Working Group and the Green Living Working Group.

Finding a process

Cllr Helena Fickling said that there is also £150,000 pounds earmarked for green spaces and questioned whether developers of new housing sites in the town were ‘doing all they should as regards green spaces on their sites’. Cllr Paul Cowell told the committee that Lea Park RA is putting together a scheme to put to council. “But,” he added: “we still don’t have a process for local people to apply. We need to have a process to follow to be fair. Cllr Dave Bretherton replied that any Section 106 money has to be applied for to SODC, so he didn’t think Thame’s process would need to be very formal so that applications could be made either through Thame Town Council or SODC.

Riverside walks and ‘neglected spaces’

Cllr Mike Dyer suggested that the TNP policy of providing riverside walks should be something to target, as they would provide ‘the greatest good for the greatest number’. Whilst Cllr Helena Fickling suggested that several ‘sad and neglected spaces all over Thame could be improved’. She was told that the money needs to spent over the next 10 years and will be phased.

More from the TNP Continuity Comittee meeting to come

Photo courtesy of Doug Kennedy and The River Thame Conservation Trust http://riverthame.org/