Everyday shopping needs not met by current facilities

Everyday shopping needs not met by current facilities

The village centre has the largest concentration of facilities. However, it is important to recognise that what is on offer does not satisfy the everyday needs of residents. As the population grows older the requirement for easily accessible goods and services will become increasingly important. The LMNP will therefore look to protect what facilities are there now while being supportive of new shopping facilities providing that the existing businesses are not harmed:

Policy 9 – Any proposal for the development of shopping facilities in Lytchett Matravers will be supported, provided there is no adverse impact on the character and amenity of nearby residential areas, the viability and vitality of existing businesses. Proposals which would result in the loss of sites used (or last used) for local shopping facilities (or any other use falling within Part A of the Use Classes Order) will not be supported unless it can be demonstrated there is no reasonable prospect of viable continued use for similar local shopping or community uses, by having been marketed at a reasonable price for at least nine months.

What do you think? Make sure you let the Neighbourhood Plan Group know your thoughts – all responses need to be in by 19th!

A pedestrian priority area in the village centre

A pedestrian priority area in the village centre

The Parish Council have always felt that village centre should have a focus for new commercial and community uses. Policy 8 of the Neighbourhood Plan sets out the specifics of such a plan which will see a pedestrian area with traffic calming and enhanced car parking. What do you think?

Policy 8 – As part of the village centre re-development, the stretch of the High Street between Vineyard Close and Wareham Road will become a re-surfaced pedestrian priority area with traffic calming and a 10mph speed limit. There will be enhanced car parking within this zone. The redevelopment of residential properties facing onto this stretch of road for retail or commercial purposes will be supported, providing the new use does not adversely affect the residential amenity of nearby properties.

How would you like to see the environment protected?

How would you like to see the environment protected?

Hedgerows, trees and our gardens provide a richness to the landscape of our village. Policy 5 of the Neighbourhood Plan aims to encourage developments in the village to provide green open spaces as well as preserve our existing landscape. What do you think?

Policy 5: Developments which provide open spaces and green assets (trees), and connect these spaces with others in the village, and allow public access to such spaces, will be encouraged. Important Hedgerows and trees are to be protected and wherever possible enhanced. New developments that do not incorporate these features will need to demonstrate why. Planting programmes for new developments should incorporate native arboreal species local to the area.

Whether you agree or not with our approach, make sure you let us know. You’ve only got till 19th July to feedback your thoughts on this policy and the others in the Neighbourhood Plan.

Two employment related policies

Two employment related policies

There’s a couple of ’employment within the village’ policies in the plan:

Policy 6
The creation of additional Use Class B1 accommodation within the settlement boundary is desirable and encouraged, new development will need to demonstrate that:

  • it will not have an unacceptable impact on residential amenity;
  • it will not have an unacceptable adverse impact on the transport network and parking conditions;
  • it will not have any other unacceptable environmental impact.

Mixed residential / commercial use development is encouraged.

Proposals for new development which combines living and employment space will be encouraged, providing there is no adverse impact on the character and amenity of nearby residential areas.

Policy 7
Development which results in the loss of premises or land used (or last used) for employment will be resisted unless it can be demonstrated that a site is no longer fit for its previous employment use, by having been marketed at a reasonable price for at least nine months.

Another employment generating use will be sought in preference to residential development.

New employment generating development will be supported subject to satisfying other policies within the LMNP taken as a whole.

What do you think about employment in the village and improvements to help villagers work locally? Don’t miss your chance to have your say – the Plan consultation ends in less than 2 weeks!

Development Policies in the Plan

Development Policies in the Plan

Mentions of development of new houses in Lytchett Matravers or indeed the surrounding area are always a hot topic for discussions when it comes to public opinions. Whilst the Neighbourhood Plan can’t specify ‘we do not want any more houses’ it can set out Development Management Policies (see Section 3) which allow the village to set out its preferences on the character and style of a new development, to identify and define critical elements of the specification of that new development and to set out how that development will be integrated into the village.

The following policies relating to development are set out in the Plan:

Policy 2

For all planning applications involving developments of two or more new dwellings (net) within the parish of Lytchett Matravers, the applicant is required to hold a public consultation open to all residents of the village.
Applicants should demonstrate how the proposal:

  • meets with the development principles, vision and objectives in this LMNP;
  • will contribute towards the provision of infrastructure and services to mitigate against the additional demands it will generate and over what period.

Proposals are unlikely to be supported if they cannot demonstrate that the above criteria have been met.

Policy 3

When applying for planning permission, new development proposals will be expected to:

  • Clearly identify the materials that will be used in the construction.
  • Preserve or enhance the appearance of village.
  • Adhere to the design principles set out in section 4.I.

Applicants should provide a written statement indicating how the above points have been considered and integrated into the design.

Policy 4

The creation of new internal roads should seek to introduce home zones, with shared spaces and strict speed limits.

New homes will be expected to provide a minimum of two car parking spaces per dwelling and within the parish a garage will not be accepted in lieu of a car parking space.

Safeguarding our Assets

Safeguarding our Assets

In preparation of the Neighbourhood Plan a detailed survey was taken of all the assets in the village. A full list can be found in Appendix E of the Neighbourhood Plan, but these include assets like the village pubs, the shops in the High Street as well as obvious assets like the school and library.

The plan recognises that over time new assets may need to be added to this list or, when appropriate, removed. The Parish Council have the task of monitoring the identified assets for this purpose.

The first policy of the plan is intended to prevent new development harming those assets:

Policy 1: Proposals that harm the identified Communal Assets, Greens Spaces and / or Green Assets identified in this plan will not be supported. Developers should seek to maximise the opportunities for infrastructure improvements identified in this plan and implement any site specific mitigation prior to occupation.

If you have any strong views about this particular policy, don’t forget you only have until the 19th of July to feed those views back to the Neighbourhood Plan Group.