The Albourne Neighbourhood Plan has successfully passed through its examination by an independent planning examiner, and has now been cleared for referendum by Mid Sussex District Council. THE REFERENDUM WILL TAKE PLACE ON THURSDAY, 1st SEPTEMBER 2016. All Albourne residents registered to vote will be receiving voting cards from MSDC later in the summer. On the day, please do turn out and vote, hopefully in support of the Plan. If you are going to be away, or cannot get to the polling station, you will be able to apply in due course to MSDC for a postal or proxy vote in the normal way. It is very important if the Plan is to have maximum effect in deciding future planning decisions in our Parish, for there to be a very high turn out. If you wish to view the final referendum version of the Plan, please click HERE

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON THE REFERENDUM: FOR MORE DETAILS AND VOTER INFORMATION PLEASE SEE HERE

MESSAGE FROM THE PARISH COUNCIL CHAIRMAN-

The referendum on the Albourne Neighbourhood Plan (NP) takes place on Thursday 1^st September in the village hall.

The Parish Council would urge all residents to take part in the referendum and to vote yes in support of the proposal:

‘Do you want Mid Sussex District Council and South Downs National Park Authority to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Albourne Parish area to help decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?’

The Parish Council NP committee lead by Mick Gratton has worked hard on this plan over the past 3 years. There have been a number of public consultations but we are aware that some residents remain unclear concerning the plan. Attached is a brief summary covering the major points, in particular proposals concerning housing. The aim is to take our fair share of housing and to provide for a small amount of additional affordable housing without overwhelming the character of the village with larger add on estates.

If we do not achieve a majority vote in favour of the NP the village will become vulnerable to developers seeking to impose a higher volume of housing.

Attached is a one page summary of the Neighbourhood Plan.

The full length document can be accessed via the Albourne village web site or directly at:

http://www.midsussex.gov.uk/.../albourne-neighbourhood-plan/

Thank you

Meg Price

NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN: Mid Sussex District Council as the Local Planning Authority, has now accepted the Parish Council's Plan as the formally submitted document, for the next legal step of the process, known as Regulation 16 Consultation (see below). This gives a further period for people and organisations to have what should be their final say on the contents of the Plan, given the changes that have been made to it, since it was first drafted and consulted upon. The period of the consultation is 6 weeks, and this started on the 26th November 2015, running to 7th January 2016. Under the rules, MSDC must publish the Plan, the Sustainability Appraisal, a Consultation Statement, and a Basic Conditions Statement (all prepared by the Parish Council). All these documents are available for viewing on MSDC's website (see links below), and any consultation responses must be sent to them, not to the Parish Council. Again, details of how to respond are set out on MSDC's website. (see links below) However, if you wish to view any of the documents here, please find them below as follows:-

Submission Neighbourhood Plan HERE

Sustainabiliity appraisal HERE

Consultation Statement HERE

Basic Conditions Statement HERE

The Parish Council intends to hold some open sessions in the Village Hall about the Plan, so that anyone who wants to find out more about its policies and direction, and how it has evolved over the last 18 months or so, will have an opportunity of doing so. Further details about these events will appear here soon.

Official Mid Sussex District Council release-

"Albourne Parish Council has prepared a Neighbourhood Plan for the Parish of Albourne and submitted it to Mid Sussex District Council and the South Downs National Park Authority. MSDC is acting as lead Local Planning Authority for the purposes of the consultation. The Plan seeks to retain the rural village character; it sets out the development principles and allocation of areas for future building and land use. MSDC is publishing the submitted Albourne Neighbourhood Plan. The publication will run for six weeks from 26th November 2015 until 7th January 2016. The documents are available at http://www.midsussex.gov.uk/neighbourhoodplans Formal comments can be submitted online at www.midsussex.gov.uk/neighbourhoodplans or by post to Planning Policy and Economic Development, Mid Sussex District Council, Oaklands Road, Haywards Heath, RH16 1SS. Comments must be received by midnight on 07th January 2016. All comments received will be for public information."