Blewbury Parish Plan 2004 Archive Page The Parish Plan was completed in 2004. This page has not been updated since then. For current information on Blewbury go to the main Blewbury site.
	Blewbury Site;   Planning Site;   The Report;   Contents

Introduction

Blewbury Parish Plan

This Blewbury Parish Plan was commissioned by the Blewbury Parish Council in association with the Blewbury Village Society (BVS) and the BVS Environment Group in November 2002, and approved in June 2004. It is intended to be valid for the next 10 years. It also provides useful reference material on the Parish.

The Parish Plan is in the context of the Vale of White Horse Local Plan 2011 (The Local Plan). The Parish Plan, which includes a Village Design Statement, does not repeat policies that are already established in that Local Plan. Furthermore, the Parish Plan has not been adopted by the Vale of White Horse District Council as Supplementary Planning Guidance. However, VOWHDC planning officers have indicated that this document could provide valuable background information in cases involving appeal or dispute. The version of the Local Plan referred to for this Parish Plan was the First Deposit Draft dated November 2002.

While the Parish Plan was being developed Oxfordshire County Council commissioned a Didcot Area Integrated Transport Strategy. This Strategy makes recommendations for the major roads in the area, and so the transport proposals of the Parish Plan are concerned only with minor roads in the Parish.

This Parish Plan begins with a short appraisal of the Parish. The subsequent sections set out the guidance, policies and actions that together form the Blewbury Parish Plan:

• The Village Design Statement describes some of the important features of the Village, and highlights considerations arising from these, which should influence any building in the Village and in particular the consideration of planning applications by the Parish Council.
• The Parish Initiatives section is intended primarily for use by the Parish Council and other Village organisations and residents. It assumes a general knowledge of Blewbury and records policies and proposed actions where Blewbury is expecting to take the initiative.
• The Action Plan records where organisations have accepted responsibility for carrying forward different policies in the plan.

The initial stage of the planning process was the research into the issues that mattered to residents of the Parish. This Plan only tackles some of the concerns raised in this research - those for which a medium term strategy or policy for the Parish is the appropriate solution. Some issues are within the responsibilities of single organisations in the Village, or are short term. Others, such as the requirements for bus services, are under review by other bodies in contact with the Parish Council. It did not seem sensible for this Plan to offer conclusions which might differ in detail from the advice given as a result of other consultations. Appendices and maps provide background information to support the understanding of Blewbury and the proposals in this Plan. There are two appendices, one provides information from the 2001 census, and the second covers the Listed Buildings in the Parish.

The following maps are included at the end of the printed plan:

• The Parish Map shows the Parish boundary and public rights of way.
• The Conservation and Growth Map illustrates the growth of the Village over time, and shows the Conservation Area as updated in 1990 and areas with planning consent for new developments.
• The Landscape and Environment Map names features in the Village and presents a view of the important environmental characteristics of the Village - including streams, open spaces, footpaths and other rights of way. It also shows the contribution to the environment of key buildings, walls and hedges.

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Development of the Plan and Acknowledgements

Blewbury has produced two earlier plans, one in 1967 and a second in 1985. These provided a good basis for the preparation of this plan. In 1998 there was a comprehensive Village Appraisal which is still believed to be valid in most particulars.

Preparation of the Parish Plan was organised by a Steering Committee set up by the BVS Environment Group and the Parish Council. Members of the Steering Committee came from different areas in the Parish, and included a number of current and previous members of the Parish Council and other Village organisations.

Blewbury Village Society members have continued to provide considerable assistance in the preparation of the plan. The work has been assisted by with a grant from the Countryside Agency Vital Villages Programme; Laura Cooke of the Countryside Agency has given helpful advice, and valuable assistance has been received from David Fisher and Anton Nath of the Oxfordshire Rural Community Council.

In line with such advice, the widest possible input from the community has been sought both in the issues to be tackled and in the solutions recommended. Progress on the plan and a record of all comments received was reported on the Blewbury web site (www.blewbury.co.uk).

Input on the issues that concern the Parish were obtained by:

• contacts with over 100 organisations in the Parish,
• requests in the Blewbury Bulletin - a monthly newsletter delivered to every house in the Parish,
• a questionnaire delivered with the Bulletin,
• a public meeting in April 2003 and
• two open days in May 2003. These were attended by over 150 residents and generated considerable further input.

• Village Appraisal including Environment and Housing issues,
• Roads, Traffic, Transport, Parking, Footpaths,
• Meeting Places and the Village Hall,
• Recreation in Blewbury,
• Community Initiatives, e.g. organisations, volunteers, litter, shops, medical etc.

• at a poster feedback session in the Village Hall in October 2003,
• by Parish Council Committees, by the Blewbury Village Society Committee, and by a joint meeting of both bodies, and
• by the BVS Environment Group.

The proposed contents of the plan were then presented for review by the Parish in the Village Hall in February 2004, and the Village Appraisal section was discussed with Ken Dijksman of the Vale of White Horse Planning Department. The revised plan was approved by the BVS Environment Group, by the Blewbury Village Society Committee and finally by the Parish Council.

Those in the Parish who have taken an active role in the preparation of this plan include:
Emma Austin, Sue Berry, Richard Bird, Martin Brassell, Penny Brassell, Bruce Brock, Peter Cockrell, Brian Duckett, Christina Duckett, Kathy Edmunds, Mike Edmunds, Richard Farrell, Ron Freeborn, Bruce Gibson, Bill Gore, Iain Hope, Catherine Howard, Keith Ifould, Mary Jarvis, Judy Lloyd-Jones, Audrey Long, Mike Marshall, Martin Murray, Hugh Osborn, Ian Parsons, Mark Phillips, Anita Rendel, Coral Richards, John Richards (co-ordinator), Edward Salter, Tony Salter, Hilary Savage,Bernardine Shirley-Smith, Derek Smith, Dru Spork, Anthony Stiff, Peter Tankard, Joanna Thomson, Grant Tuff, Chris Whatmore and Peter Willison.

The Steering Committee would like to thank all of them and everyone else who contributed to this project.

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