Reshaping Our World: The Impact of Active Community Engagement

What if you could be the architect of your own neighborhood's future? Join us for an enlightening discussion with Dr. Richard Sidebottom as we unravel the neighborhood planning process in Finchingfield and Wethersfield. This episode promises to reveal the power held by local residents in influencing critical aspects like building design, countryside protection, and affordable housing. We explore the Regulation 14 stage, where community feedback is pivotal in ensuring the neighborhood plan aligns with local needs and priorities before it reaches Braintree Council.

Community engagement takes center stage as we delve into the diverse voices that shape a comprehensive neighborhood plan. Listen to how initial information sessions led to insightful surveys for various demographic groups, including children, whose perspectives were captured through school visits. The episode highlights the unique attributes of our area, its vibrant community spirit, and the necessity for infrastructure improvements to foster local entrepreneurship. Discover the impact of active participation and how it’s transforming community planning into a collaborative and inclusive process.

Finally, we examine the community's efforts to preserve local heritage by designating buildings as community assets and protecting non-designated heritage sites like Finchingfieldfield Bridge. Dr. Sidebottom guides us through the distinction between legal policies and broader initiatives, emphasising traffic management and affordable housing. We wrap up by celebrating the rich cultural heritage of the area and the potential for community-driven economic growth through eco-friendly activities, setting the stage for a pivotal community vote on the neighborhood's future. Come along as we explore these dynamic community endeavors and the significant role each resident plays in shaping the world around them.

Chapters

• 0:06 Neighbourhood Plan Discussion and Process
• 14:59 Community Engagement for Future Planning
• 19:40 Preserving Community Assets and Heritage
• 30:29 Creating a Vibrant Community Future
• 38:58 Podcast Wrap-Up and Call to Action

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:06

Hello and welcome to the Fields Association On Air. We are a group of residents who are passionate about tackling all aspects of local and national government decisions that affect local communities. In each episode, various members of the Fields Association will be exploring a range of subject matters, discussing all the angles of each issue and interviewing those who can add an expert or helpful point of view. So grab yourself a tea or coffee and listen in as we look to navigate through these current challenges. Hello there and welcome to another podcast from the Field Association. Today I am actually sitting with Dr Richard Sidebottom and we're going to be discussing the neighbourhood plan, and what's important is the neighbourhood plan is exactly that. It's about the whole neighbourhood. This episode is not going to be taken up with what's happening over the base, although it does come into play at some stage during our meeting but it's about the neighbourhood. It's about how we can get involved, when we've got to so far and what's going to happen going forward. So I hope you enjoy it, Richard. Over to you.

Speaker 2: 1:18

A neighbourhood plan is a legal document. It talks about a range of issues Such as how we design our buildings, how to protect our countryside, how we deal with the need for new affordable homes, etc. It is written by and on behalf of local residents Everybody involved. In writing. This is a local resident.

Speaker 1: 1:40

So you talked about people sort of writing the documents and whatever local residents and what have you, but I mean I haven't written anything at all. So I mean, is this just people expected to write something or is this just something that's occurring with a group of people?

Speaker 2: 2:00

Basically, the parish councils got together Finchfield-Weddesworth parish councils got together 22, I think decided that having a neighbourhood plan would be a good idea. They then appointed a team that includes some parish councillors but some people who are not parish, that an open invitation was sent to anybody who is a resident who can then get involved in that process, so that four team of maybe 15 people sometimes it's been three people, sometimes six people have spent the last year doing the research and looking at the sort of the boundaries. There are certain boundaries that we cannot cross that we cannot cover, like strategic issues, so we can't cover transport things like that. There are certain other boxes that we have cross so we cannot cover, like strategic issues, so we can't cover transport things like that. Um, there are certain other boxes that we that we have to tick. We have to make sure that we try and, as best we can, represent all of the interests, all of the residents that live in the neighbourhood plan area.

Speaker 2: 2:58

Um, the legislation only came in in 2011, so dozens of neighbourhoods across the country have done these, but because it is all residents doing all of the legwork, with some financial and technical assistance from County Council Braintree, some government funding available.

Speaker 2: 3:20

It's a heck of a lot, but when it's all finished, if it gets approved and adopted by BDC, the key thing and I think this is a key message to get across it then forms part of Braintree Council Any planning application that comes along at the moment. What will happen is is that Braintree Council will evaluate that based on their overall policies that apply across the whole of the district and that applies, and so that's basically saying the same principles that apply to Whittam, to Braintree, to Halstead, to Toppersfield, to wherever. What a neighbourhood plan does is. It gives us an opportunity to then give a bit more granular detail so that when Braintree evaluate a planning application in our neighbourhood plan area going forward, it will then have to look at their general policies for the district as well as the specific policies that we put in place has anyone else done one of these neighbourhood plans so far, particularly in the local area?

Speaker 2: 4:19

Yep Bardfield started theirs in 2019, and they're about a month or two ahead of us. Um Toppersfield started theirs in 2019 or 2020, I think, and they're about a couple of months. So what we've done, we're currently at the stage called regulation 14. The regulation 14 is before we've actually submitted to branch of council and director. This is when we're, this is when we're sort of saying um, we asked you back in october what you wanted to be in this, what the main concerns were. This is our point of coming back and say, okay, have we got that right? Have we heard what people said? Have we got the priorities right? Do you think that the policies and actions that we've put in place are addressing those concerns? Once we then get the feedback at the end of this six-week consultation period, which ends on the 22nd of November, then we make any necessary amendments, then we submit it to Braintree. So we're at that stage.

Speaker 2: 5:16

Robertsfield are not quite at that stage. Hartfield have been through that stage and they're going through the next stage of submitting it. So the answer, the long short, is yes. Lots of other neighborhoods are doing this. Um shelford are beginning their process as well. I'm going to speak at their parish council. Talk about our experience with them tonight yeah, because it's heavily regulated.

Speaker 2: 5:37

It's very regular. There are lots of procedures we have to go through. So, for example, um last monday, on october the 7, we have to make sure that we notify people that our Regulation 14 consultation had started. With the help of lots of other people, we had to make sure that we then sent out about 450 notifications, either by post, either hand-delivered or using the Royal Mail, or emails to people on that day to make sure everyone knows. In addition to that, we have to notify all of the voluntary organisations, any businesses that we can find registered at Companies House. In addition, we have to notify all of the residents. So we've done hand drops of 1,400 leaflets. We've then posted on Facebook. We've then put it on our website. We put it on the parish council notice boards. We've then posted on Facebook. We've then put it on our website. We've put it on the parish council notice boards. We put notices in the pubs, the cafes, wherever we can, in the health centre. We've tried to make sure that people are aware. We have to demonstrate to the inspector that we've made our best efforts.

Speaker 2: 6:38

It is about every single aspect that planning can have its touch on. So there are certain things that planning can have it's. It's it's sort of touch on. So there's certain things that you know, um, planning can't touch. But what we've tried to do in this, use what the air base is sort of generating, use what's going to happen with finchfield bridge, for example. Yeah, various other things that upset people, maybe housing development we're trying to then use that okay. So now we've spent a lot of time saying this is what we don't want. This is our opportunity to collectively say this is what we do. That's and that is covering a broad range of things. But for some people, yes, it is about. For other people, yes, it is about them. For other people, it's about affordable housing. For other people it's about how are you going to make sure we can have jobs for my kids that are just, you know, leaving school, coming back to university, what's from to those types of things.

Speaker 2: 7:29

So some of those, the neighborhood plan can address directly in terms of policies. But, for example, it can, it could. There's one provision. Then they're talking about what we would do for community housing, for example. There are other ones in terms of the guiding principles, of what should happen on the base for another. But there are other things in which it can't put a policy in place and talk about action, and those are the types of things that aren't planning related, but nevertheless they kind of match what people said. This is what we really need to talk something about, based on the evidence we've looked at, you know you really need to pay attention to.

Speaker 2: 8:08

So what we've done is we've had, we've 18 policies. We also have 14 actions, and they include things like, for example um, we need to make sure that we get better digital access and we need to make sure that people are having to use on-demand transport, for example, have are being able to use that on-demand transport. Those two then tie together Because that's all. So DigiGo is basically reliant on people having digital knowledge, etc. There's a gap. There's a gap there, and what we found was is the people who most need to use public transport are the ones who are the most like digitally disenfranchised. So that's kind of a, that's a people thing, that's not a planning thing, but it's something that the parish council can use their convening power and their lobbying power and their access to funding to be able to sort of generate that to to generate a desirable result by just pulling people together.

Speaker 2: 9:04

Yes, so what we did back in October, just to recap, is we had six meetings at the village halls etc. And then we also did a survey. And the survey what we did deliberately is normally when you get a survey you'll get like lots of closed-end questions. It's kind of difficult to express what you think and what you think is not. What I think is not where your next door neighbor thinks, it's not where the guy sitting opposite you thinks. There were lots of free format questions. Believe you me, people filled them out and they told us exactly what they thought.

Speaker 2: 9:36

But what I meant was that analyzing it took quite some time, but what we really tried to do is to get a trail of. These are the types of areas where people had a concern and this is how we try to address it. So one thing we did that I spent a long time doing is my little wheel you will see in the summary document and in the main document and that tries to put them into categories so that people can try and understand the chain of thought, and there has been a lot of thinking coming behind. So so we group people's concerns into, like climate change and the environment. We did community and livelihoods, we did moving around, we did housing, we did um rural landscape, we did the design and heritage of buildings and we did the airbase.

Speaker 2: 10:17

So there's a broad range of like in sort of six, seven areas. So they all sort of fall into those and then hopefully what that diagram illustrates is okay. This policy is primarily dealing in this area, but it will also have impacts, and so we've now got this a matrix of interlinking policies and action that hopefully now give us a platform to sort of take that energy and that community angst, twist it and turn it into something that's a positive narrative so that, going forward, we've now got the momentum and the mandate. Then go to to whomever and say this is what the community said, this is what the community wants.

Speaker 1: 10:54

Now deliver it I think what's really nice about everything you've said so far is the involvement of the local community and how everyone's had a chance to put their point of view across um, because I think sometimes and one of the local community and how everyone's had a chance to put their point of view across. Because I think sometimes and one of the most frustrating things over the last few years for the local community is the fact that no one seems to be listening to me or us, but they've definitely had the chance with this and will continue to get the chance with this neighbourhood plan, to be listened to.

Speaker 2: 11:23

Isn't that?

Speaker 1: 11:24

true.

Speaker 2: 11:26

One of the key takeaways of one of the very first information sessions in last October was people's frustration at not having. Is that nobody listens to me? We're all listening to each other because this is written by the residents or the residents. There's no one external involved in this other than the ones that are helping or working for us.

Speaker 1: 11:49

Okay, so let's take that stage further then, because we're listening to each other, the community, we're involved, and I'm sitting here looking at, well, a brochure of 120 pages. I'm looking at a pricey of the brochure. There's lots of documents here and other paraphernalia. What exactly is all this documentation?

Speaker 2: 12:12

here another paraphernalia what, what exactly is all this documentation? So the main document it's called the full document is, um, some of it is, it's kind of written in as diluted legalese as we could, but this is, at the end of the day, so such that beginning. This is a legal document that forms part of the planning process. So this has to be quite formal, a little bit dull in places, but then what it's trying to do is to tell the story from our point of view. Same time adhere to lots of like kind of equal tick boxes. So haven't. So we realized that obviously, you know that's not the easiest thing to digest, um, so then what we also produce is a summary document. So the summary document is hopefully what it sounds on the tin, um, although my first version was 30 pages and that, so it wasn't really a summary, and what it tries to do is to give you a taster of what's in the full document, and then it points you to the exact pages or sections where you can go to if you're interested in read more. And then, if you really want to know some of the evidence and things like that, there's also an appendix document, and then there is also what we've also put out on the website. It's just simply a list of the policies and actions in full. So if you just wanted this read about, okay, what does policy 14 say? You can just go and look at that document that all of those documents are available online on our website. They are also available at all collection points, those collection points being um vinchfield post office, the vinchfield lion, vinchfield health center and the weathersfield community shop. Um, if you um, for any reason, can't get hold of one, you would like one, then please do um, just send us an email or, alternatively, you can. We will have lots of hard copies available at our information afternoon from two to four, whether to feel village hall.

Speaker 2: 14:15

Well, it's been a collective effort. I mean, um, in terms of writing, some people have had, you know, a greater role than others. But in terms of, you know, printing, other people. In terms of delivering, other people. In terms of, like, making sure the budget seems down, it's other people. In terms of putting stuff on facebook or less of that, it's other people, and I don't, you know it. It's that most definitely being a team effort and, yes, people do different things within teams, but everyone's very comfortable is that everyone brings a different bottle to this party, right? Someone's got a champagne, someone's, like you know, got pomane, someone's got the blue nun, right, but it all contributes to the cocktail, right?

Speaker 1: 14:53

Now you're showing your age.

Speaker 2: 14:54

Yeah, yeah, yes, it could have been worse, it could have been a bod can.

Speaker 1: 14:59

So all this information had to be collated at some stage, didn't it? I mean, was there a time when people got to debate this, and who did you approach to get all this information?

Speaker 2: 15:18

I mean, where did it all come from? Well, what we tried to do was um have the initial information sessions work out really what types of questions the surveys should ask. So we had the information sessions, then we had the surveys, and after we had the surveys and we had, like resident survey, we did a young kids survey and we had surveys of businesses and also did a housing needs survey. That was run independently by us, but what we wanted to make sure was that we heard what people had said. Then we spent the next kind of six, eight months then putting it into this document. So now we've had conversations throughout all of that period. Now this is our official public conversation period. Are the bits in there that we've got wrong? Are the bits in there we've got right we need to do more on?

Speaker 2: 15:54

So we had a conversation with lots of people at the Guild Hall on last Saturday and people were saying you know, on the whole it's there, this is what I'd like to see more of and this is, you know, this is what I'd like to see less of. And then we've got another information session between two and four at weathersville village hall this saturday on the 19th. Very much like people to come along to that. Other than that, if you could use the online feedback forms, because that'll say work. You want to use a physical feedback form? That's absolutely fine, or use the email address or our website or the facebook to contact us of any question. The most important thing is that this is written by a small team on behalf of the residents, and all of that small team are residents one of the things you said earlier, richard, which was really interesting, was about the fact that children were involved in the neighborhood plan.

Speaker 1: 16:47

Explain to me a bit about that.

Speaker 2: 16:48

So, um, so jan stobart from rcc, which is the, the charity which is funded by s county council, helping us. She went into um local schools and then basically did a lesson with the primary school, with the, with the kids, and um basically got their impression of like, what they like about here, what they don't like about living and what they'd like to have in the future. Just to be honest, you know this. Really, what we're trying to, this is 2033, and then when we renew it, it'll be 2043. This isn't really about us, this is about them and this is about their perceptions of here are not the same. So what we try to do is to cater for all aspects of the demographic, but particularly them getting access to them.

Speaker 2: 17:37

Obviously, doing a survey wouldn't work. We did do a survey, a younger person survey. We've got like quite a few responses to that online, but this one from the schools was particularly illuminating. So we got all generations love the fact of like where we live and they love the outside space. Some of them wanted some uh things that we can't do. Some of them wanted your sting nettle. One of them wanted erling harland to move in next door, and maybe some of you came to something. Someone wanted no pineapple on pizza disappointed, really bitch I thought we could do anything Exactly.

Speaker 2: 18:12

We've tried. Maybe we'll put that in the action plan for the Paris Council, but I think it's very important. We've tried because we're very conscious of the fact. You know, we do have a slightly mature age group living here. In order to keep that going, we need to make sure there are opportunities for people to stay here who want to stay here. Lots of people come here in their 40s and 50s, having done previous job, and then they'll set up new business. For example. That's one of the other things we found is a lot of the entrepreneurs we have here are like sort of post 45 and they come here because it's a great area to live and they can run the type of business that they want from this particular area. So that that links to the idea we need to improve broadband and maybe we need to have that kind of business hub where they can get together meetings and stuff like that. So this is an interesting one.

Speaker 1: 19:01

What? What, in your opinion, makes our area unique?

Speaker 2: 19:05

it's relatively close to london but it isn't um. So people, um, people love it in terms of not just the quality of the landscape or access to the walkways or like sort of the nice buildings and things like that it's, it's got a nice feel to it. So in essence it's about the nature of people, like who they live with. We have such a vibrant likes of underlying group community thing going on. People are very productive that people realize that you need to have the business because they it. Then it keeps the community vibrant.

Speaker 2: 19:40

And the one thing that people in Wellesley were very conscious of we've lost our pubs and we've got the Wellesley Club doing great, the shop, exactly. That's all keeping. They're all links into how to keep that community strong. So that's why one of the reasons what we've done is one of the actions is we've got assets of community value On there. What you can do is we've mandated the parish council to basically say let's go and find out the buildings that we can designate as an asset of community value. If you then designate a building as an asset of community value, if it comes up for sale, then the community gets six months to try and raise the funds in order to buy that. So say, for example, a pub came up and then it was looking to be sold, then the community then gets the chance to keep it as a pub, okay, rather than it being turned into a house, whatever.

Speaker 1: 20:31

So, richard, with all this hard work done, what's the next step? What happens next to this document and the neighbourhood plan?

Speaker 2: 20:40

Once we've finished this consultation process and we make any necessary amendment, then it goes to Braintree District Council. That's called Reg 15. Then they go out and then they do another public consultation, but then the ball is in their court. So at this stage what we've done within, believe you me, a relatively short space of time, we've controlled what we can control. So once it goes beyond, once it goes to Braintree Council, then the timeline is not within our control. So they may, you know, they may sort of tell us there are various other things that we might have to do, screening, assessments, those types of things we don't know yet.

Speaker 2: 21:19

Then they may get further consultation, further input from other national bodies, regional bodies, etc. Then after all that's gone through that process, then it goes to the inspector. The inspector may say, like you've got to reword this policy, you've got to delete that policy, the whole thing's rubbish. Start again, hopefully, on the scenario where he just says you've got to amend that and you've got to change that word, you've got to delete that policy. Then what we do is we then redraft it and it goes to a reference. When that will be? Again I can't.

Speaker 1: 21:47

I can't say hopefully within the next calendar so, richard, sorry if you've already covered this and I've missed it, but uh, what is the difference between a policy and an action insofar as the neighbourhood plan is concerned?

Speaker 2: 22:02

So the policies all form part of the neighbourhood plan. Then that becomes part of the criteria on which any planning application is evaluated by Braintree Council. Alongside their local development. Action is not something that is in that legal document, does not form part of that plan. What it is is kind of a holistic view from the community point of view. We realise it's outside of this remit, but this is what we put in place from a policy point of view.

Speaker 2: 22:32

This is other stuff that we realise we can't do. For example, it would be. It's other stuff that we realize we can't do, for example, it would be are the things that we could do in terms of traffic. Well, have we ever done like a full assessment, for example, of like putting traffic gates or entrance things to the villages to try and slow traffic down, or signage or that type of stuff? And a coordinated one of you, like you know, you've got every now and again oh, can you reduce that speed limit, can you do that?

Speaker 2: 22:59

But this is basically sitting back having a full exercise. How are we going to deal with this, because this is a huge issue? So what it basically says is that the parish councils are independently or together. Let's do a proper integrated foresight analysis. Look forward five, 10 years. Where do we think, where do we anticipate the problems are going to be? Let's try and be proactive, let's not try and be reactive, and I appreciate it's very difficult. Let's say, okay, what are the types of things that we possibly could put in place? Do a full plan with Essex County Council, because the key thing is now is that the parish council now has a clear mandate, because this is a community has said this is what we want to do, right, okay, that's kind of that's quite powerful, and the parish council, along with other help from other people in the community, um, then has that convening power again, that funding that type of thing. Then go forward. I think this is, this is sort of making sure we're listening to that, to that voice so obviously, obviously, you've talked about the traffic scenario that came up in the neighbourhood plan.

Speaker 1: 24:01

What did people say about housing? Because I mean there's new houses springing up wherever you look at the moment, certainly locally.

Speaker 2: 24:09

People were concerned about the style. These are new houses, new houses that are basically sort of a million plus, not really helping people, people like, say, younger people. So what we've tried to do is we've tried to recognise both of those things. Is that the affordability thing and the scale, and you know? So there are no sites allocated for housing. People would prefer like the odd infill and that type of thing. And if it's, if it fits the sort of design and the sort of the character criteria, things like that, then I don't think people have huge objections to and what about specifically around, say, finchfield bridge?

Speaker 2: 24:48

so we've done two things. We put it in writing, kind of the explicit recognition of the efforts that finchfield parish council has made. This puts in don't change it in any way, shape or form. Many of our built structures are already listed and therefore protected, but we discovered that many were not. These include Finchfield Bridge, parsons Farm and Wethersfield and all of the buildings at Wethersfield Manor. These all make up a piece of who we were and who we are.

Speaker 2: 25:13

Basically, a neighbourhood plan can nominate these as non-designated heritage assets, which means they're a material consideration for any planning application. So we've made nine such nominations, including Finchfield Bridge and the entire air base site. This is virtually the only intact example of an early Cold War air base in the country. Any development there must preserve the essence of this history. We can also protect our open spaces by designating our greens and playing field as local green spaces. This means they too are a material consideration in any planning application. What this all basically tells us, tony, is that we have such a rich history bursting to get out there.

Speaker 2: 25:54

This area has such great potential for us and visitors. Both Finch and Federal Weathersville were recorded as significant settlements in the Doomsday Book, don't you know? Finchamfield's inclusion is even denoted in a plaque at the entrance to the Guildhall, which was built in 1470. This building has been lovingly restored as a prized but underused asset in our community. Along with the bridge bridge, the guild hall and all finchfield's other attractions are churches, the walks around weathersfield and showerford and bardfield, the heritage links with castle headingham and the airbase, the artistic links across the pamphlet bardford artists and a whole portfolio uncovered at the guild hall by a local artist called arthur leg, with potential for a whole heritage, foodie and nature trail for the community and visitors to enjoy.

Speaker 1: 26:42

OK, so if the bridge isn't going to be changed or it's going to be left alone in its current condition and whatever, which would be fantastic we'll use the bridge and we'll love it. What about the airbase? Because there's a bit in the neighbourhood plan, one of the sections in there, about the airbase. Talk to me about that, richard.

Speaker 2: 26:59

Policy 18, it's the lengthiest policy in there. It stretches over two pages and it says it mandates brain trees current at the moment action plan should be in place. And then it says the guiding principle nothing at all, it's completely so. We've got 800 acres. There's nothing about development load, they'll be. So the base, what we do on the base. We've affected by all the other seven policies. So rather than prescribing what should necessarily happen, the only thing we've kind of said that really must happen is you need to have a plan and then hopefully then to encourage and then we've sort of put in place a lot of guiding principles landowner, along with bdc, along with the paris council's neighbor plan team, to then come together, make a very positive view of what that could be, come forward with a plan, then you know that's a potential alternative to what could. The government may decide to do something else with it. There's nothing we can do about that. The only thing I can say, by going through this process, having this policy in place, master plan process, as a community with a lot, lot stronger position, these are all types of ideas that everyone's got within the community. Yeah, the question is you know how these fit within the mastermind, how they fit in with the aspirations of landowner, how they fit with the strategic plan of branch of council, how they then dovetail what the community wants. But the key thing is that you've got 800 acres up there, two-thirds of which basically open grassland, enormous area of land. Right, yeah, it's just like there's a six, eight percent of finchville parish. It's, it's extraordinary, it's massive. So you could um, you could get an enormous bed. So that's, that's one example.

Speaker 2: 28:30

Yes, another example, I think, is if you look at the profile, the employment profile, this area and a rain tree, you could maybe stop the people commuting out have already got the skills. You're going to see opportunities for people who don't have the skills to get skills. You'd have a training center on the base, for example. So you could, it'd be. But it would have to be relatively small scale. Distribution center kind of doesn't make sense. You know, five thousand homes kind of doesn't make sense, 5,000 homes kind of doesn't make sense. But on a relatively smaller scale, something that's high-tech, maybe something that's energy intensive, you could take account of, maybe using a solar array on the site that can generate a lot of power. So I think that there is potential again to take an economic box as well. But then you've also got to think about the social benefits.

Speaker 2: 29:21

Let's have that big open space. So one of the things is we've got all this open space around us, this footpath. Actually you can't walk across that ever. The nice thing is what? If you could increase the permeability of it, you could walk across it. Why couldn't we have cycleway going all the way from Shelford through through Toppersfield, through through through Wellersfield, through Finching Field? Then you've got this cycle waste.

Speaker 2: 29:39

What do we have? Essentially, that's another economic opportunity. Then what you do is get okay. So then you've got the airbase, essentially like a tourist heritage. You've got the outdoor activity centre. You've got little pods maybe people would stay, or things like that out in the forest or go nature walks.

Speaker 2: 29:55

One of the key things that people love to do is they love to walk or go nature walks. One of the key things that people love to do is they love to walk. Why can't we encourage this area to be like kind of a nature trail, kind of a heritage trail, so you could get advertised, you could coordinate? It's another thing we talk about in terms of having coordinated support of businesses. We've got these fantastic cafes and pubs in Finchfield, for example. We've got a potential vista up there, we've got the windmill, we've got the ponder, but we need destination places for them to go as well as to eat. Why don't we coordinate with all the surrounding parishes, such as Castle Heddingham? And even we could go as far as Saffron Walden in terms of the Fry Gallery?

Speaker 2: 30:29

Who knew about all of our artistic history here With Bardfield? The great Bardfield artists a lot of them actually lived and worked in Shelford, some of them lived in Finchamfield, etc. Got a huge literacy and artistic history. Who knew? Who tells us about this? Who advertises this? So we've got this combination. You've got this natural heritage, you've got this like artistic heritage, this literary heritage you've got potentially you could like trade, like a foodie trail, that type of stuff. Tell us that.

Speaker 2: 30:54

So then, but then the base kind of like helps, it's, it's kind of the fulcrum within that. By opening it up, you then give people access in terms of like horse riding, cycling, walking, like wheelchair access, etc. Etc. Etc. It just opens up so many opportunities. So again, it kind of ticks by ticking one box you end up ticking so many, and what it does is it plays to the advantages of what we're really good at and what people really love, what we're good at. We've got some great hostels, we've got great pubs, we've got great countryside, we've got great energy, we've got great tech skills, we've got great entrepreneurs, that type of stuff. Once you get that little ecosystem going, it can grow, it can be controlled and it can suit what suits the location. I mean you really came alive there.

Speaker 2: 31:45

That's exciting, and that's just one of the elements.

Speaker 2: 31:48

Yeah, but that's from all the feedback as well yes it is a real opportunity, but it is and I think that's the way to look at it. It's like it's the opportunity, it's the positive, it's like let's stop saying no, let's say okay, let's be really ambitious. So this plan is very ambitious and it is. It pushes the envelope on a number of things, for example, in terms of protecting protecting our landscape. But we've declared the whole of the neighborhood plan area a valued landscape and like people don't do that, like okay, we're doing it, yeah, and so we would rather, we would rather be knocked back on having a go than like not trying. So we're really, we've really tried very hard. It's all evidence-based, you know, but we are aware that we're pushing the envelope and I think then you link it back like the Barford Lodge, aldridge Borden, et cetera, et cetera.

Speaker 2: 32:45

They came here and they lived here for a reason. One of the nice things is they picked up on is the relationship between the working landscape and the working people. A lot of their pictures about people working the land, not just the landscape, um, so I think that's the kind of thing and it's that's. It's the fact that it evolves and it changes and it's different. But I think the people read people really the information of the feedback we got was people realize it's nice, but I don't expect it to be exactly the same in 50 years' time. Once it's gone, it's gone, isn't it? Exactly yeah, and all we can do is we can control what we control, and by going through this process again, we're in a lot stronger position than where we would be. That's brilliant brilliant work.

Speaker 1: 33:31

So just remind me again when will the whole thing be finished?

Speaker 2: 33:38

Okay, so the Reg 14 consultation process that ends on 22nd of november, so everyone has the chance to read whichever version of the document that they want. Online version they can download the pdf, the summary or the full document. Appendices, policies and actions. Written form you can drop your feedback form off at any of the collection centers. Post it and all the information is on the website and all on the leaflets. We need that by the 22nd. We'll then collect all of that feedback and we have to address every single comment, line by line and you're encouraging people yes, yeah, because this is what we, this is what we promised we would do.

Speaker 2: 34:15

Yeah, we promised we were going to listen, because that was the big frustration of people. They said no one listens to me, what's the point of me saying something? Well, we're listening. Then what we do is we evaluate where those comments, whether they should cause a policy to be amended or an action to be amended, hypos, yep, sorry, there's still plenty of those, there's still a lot of those, but you know. And then we'll then present that amended one to the parish councils. Then they have to say, okay, they accept all the amendments.

Speaker 2: 34:47

Again, this is official, this goes to the parish councils, subject to their approval. So that's again the accountability process. What we'll say to them is this is what the community said they wanted to change, and this is what we're saying, this is our objective opinion as to what we should do. Then it gets given to Braintree County. That's called Reg 15, what other processes they've got to go through? Then it goes to the inspector. After that process we're probably looking. Maybe summer next year, maybe, maybe summer next year, maybe this time next year there's some sort of vote isn't there.

Speaker 2: 35:22

It's like voting for a district council. It's a proper thing. We have nothing to do with it. As a neighbourhood plan team, as Paris councillors, I cannot say anything about it. It's like kind of like a purdah. Like probably very, very strict rules for it. And it's like a purdah, probably very strict rules for it. It's like you go in as if you're voting in a normal election and then Brainstreet run on it. It's the forbifter.

Speaker 1: 35:50

And people are voting to accept the Labour plan.

Speaker 2: 35:53

That's important. It's a yes or no? It's a yes or no.

Speaker 1: 35:56

It's like a mini Brexit.

Speaker 2: 35:58

Yeah, people will go to their neighbours again. Hopefully it goes slightly better Anyway, yes, so that's kind of, but in theory if it's the local community going in to vote yes or no, and the local community being consulted with throughout the process and put their comments in.

Speaker 1: 36:16

You would hope and think that most people are going to say we want to adopt this.

Speaker 2: 36:20

I mean, the key thing to realise is that, in a democracy, what we've got to do, we have to balance this. On the whole. Some people are going to be upset by certain things. Some people are going to, hopefully, the way this has been written, and we have very, very consciously tried to write it in a way that has been written and we have very, very consciously tried to write it in a way that's reflected, so that we haven't got anything in there. That's massively common. The most effective way that we've found people to ask to understand all the process better is to ask their question face to face. But it's it's. It's so massively important I cannot emphasize. That gives us an opportunity. Do something really positive, show as a community.

Speaker 1: 37:02

This is what we want that's, uh, really a lovely note to end it on that. We want to show what we want as a community and it really does give everyone the opportunity to actually have their say. Just to reiterate at the end of this podcast, some of the things that Richard said and the Neighbourhood Planning Team said if you want printed copies or any of the information that Richard went through in the podcast, you can get these from Finchingfield Post Office, finchingfield Lion Pub, finchingfield Health Centre or the Wethersfield Community Shop. If you don't have access to online facilities or email, you can always pop into any of those shops with any of your comments or pick up the printed copies. They're sitting there waiting for you.

Speaker 1: 37:55

There's a meeting at Wethersfield Village Hall this Saturday. That's the 19th, I believe. Yes, it is. And also, again, just to reiterate, if you want to look at the website, it's wwwfw-nporg. That's wwwfw-nporg. And if you did want to email the team, the Neighbourhood Plan team, again it's fwnpteam. All one word fwnp team. All one word fwnp team. At gmail dot com, which we would love to love to hear from you, I'm sure, and the rest of the team. And once again, just on behalf of the whole community, thanks for all the hard work that the the gang have been putting into this and I'll certainly be down there in Wethersfield this Saturday, so might see be down there in Wethersfield this Saturday, so I might see you down there.

Speaker 1: 38:58

Take care, and thanks for listening. Bye, everyone. Thanks for listening. We hope that you enjoyed this episode and found it informative. Please make sure that you subscribe to our podcast so you don't miss a single episode. If you have a question that you would like to raise, or if there is a subject that you think would make an interesting episode, please email us on the link below. If you would like to support the show further, you can do so by clicking on the link below as well. Until next time, goodbye.