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1 INTRODUCTION

PURPOSE OF THE PLAN

1.1 The Neighbourhood Plan for Datchet covers the period 2022-2033. The Plan contains a vision for the future of Datchet parish and sets out clear planning policies to realise this vision.

1.2 The principal purpose of the Neighbourhood Plan is to guide development within the parish. The process of producing a plan has sought to involve the community as widely as possible. The different topic areas are reflective of matters that are of considerable importance to Datchet, its residents, businesses and community groups.

1.3 The process of producing the Neighbourhood Plan has also identified a number of actions which are not specifically related to land use matters and therefore sit outside the scope of a Neighbourhood Plan. These actions will be addressed by the Parish Council outside of the Neighbourhood Plan process (see Section 10, Non-Policy Actions).

Manor Hotel

POLICY CONTEXT

1.4 The Neighbourhood Plan forms part of the development plan for the neighbourhood area over the period 2022 to 2033, the other relevant parts being the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Local Plan, Replacement Minerals Local Plan and Waste Local Plan1.

1.5 The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM), as the local planning authority, designated the Datchet Neighbourhood Plan Area in March 2013 to enable Datchet Parish Council to prepare the Neighbourhood Plan. The Plan has been prepared by the community through the Datchet Neighbourhood Plan (DNP) Steering Group.

1.6 The Neighbourhood Plan has been prepared in accordance with the Town   Country Planning Act 1990, the Planning   Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, the Localism Act 2011 and the Neighbourhood Planning Regulations 2012 (which were amended in 2015). The Datchet Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group has prepared the plan to establish a vision for the future of the parish of Datchet and to set out how that vision will be realised through managing land use and development change over the plan period.

1.7 The map in Figure 1.1 below shows the boundary of the Neighbourhood Plan area, designated in 2013, which is the same as the administrative boundary of Datchet parish.

1.8 The RBWM Local Plan covering the period to 2033 was adopted in February 2022. The reasoning and evidence informing the policies in the Borough Local Plan have been taken into account when preparing the policies in the Neighbourhood Plan.

Datchet neighbourhood plan area

CONSULTATION

1.9 The process to develop a Neighbourhood Plan was first launched in 2011. There was an attempt to develop a Plan across the parishes of Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury (which since 2019 have been one ward in RBWM) and Old Windsor. It was then decided to develop a separate Plan and Datchet Parish Council made two further attempts at a Plan for Datchet in 2012 and 2014 before finally a community group was set up with Parish Council support in 2016. Since then there has been an extensive engagement process with the local community. This has included:

  • Publication of introductory leaflets delivered throughout the village.
  • Six parish-wide surveys and surveys at local schools, with leaflets and supporting information and survey/response collection boxes at various locations in the parish such as The Bridge Cafe, Library, Health Centre.
  • 15 Character Area Assessments with residents with explanatory leaflets delivered to Character Areas.
  • Neighbourhood Plan Drop-in Day at the Village Hall.
  • Clean Air Day banners and leafleting on The Green with survey on walking and cycling.
  • Awareness-raising sessions at the Railway Station and at Tesco.
  • Involvement of community groups.
  • Datchet Design Guide consultation at the village hall and supporting leaflets at numerous outlets throughout the village.
  • Information stalls at various village events and open days including Datchet Village Fete; St Mary’s Church Christmas Fayre; The Ellis Journey veteran car event on The Green and the Big BBQ Boogie.
  • Quarterly articles in The Link magazine which is delivered to every house in the village (2017 to date).
  • Community meetings on Zoom (in place of face-to-face focus groups during the pandemic) to discuss topics such as downsizing.
  • In addition, the community has been kept informed of progress through regular updates on the Datchet Neighbourhood Plan website, www.datchetneighbourhoodplan.org, on social media including facebook.com/DatchetNeighbourhoodPlan and the Datchet Eye Facebook group.

MONITORING THE PLAN

1.10 Datchet Parish Council, as the responsible body, will be responsible for maintaining and periodically revisiting the Plan to ensure relevance and to monitor delivery as part of the Annual Parish Meeting.

1 See https://www.rbwm.gov.uk/home/planning/planning-policy/development-plan/.


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