Finchampstead Neighbourhood Development Plan (FNDP)
On 7 September 2023 residents of Finchampstead voted to adopt the Finchampstead Neighbourhood Development Plan (FNDP).
What is a Neighbourhood Development Plan?
- It is a powerful tool for a community for influencing local development.
- It is a safeguard for our neighbourhoods from speculative, ill-conceived development.
- It is a plan for the future drawn up by local people, representing their views and needs.
- It provides community derived planning policies, which will be used when planning applications are considered by the Parish and Wokingham Borough Council (WBC).
- It covers issues such as housing, green spaces, social/economic needs and priorities, leisure and transport.
The Plan’s vision is “to embrace the need for change and to meet the expanding need of a growing population whilst protecting those important things that have attracted generations of people to choose Finchampstead as a place to live and bring up their families”.
Background to Finchampstead’s Neighbourhood Development Plan (FNDP)
In 2018, as part of a review of the role of the Parish Council a ‘fact-finding’ review about the role of Neighbourhood Development Plans in the planning process was carried out. A number of other NDPs in parish councils in Wokingham Borough, Hampshire, Bracknell and West Berkshire as well as other parishes across the country were considered.
As a result, Finchampstead Parish Council (FPC) resolved that the parish would benefit from having a Neighbourhood Development Plan, and supported by WBC, embarked upon the process at the start of 2019. The project was run under the oversight of the Parish Council, via a Steering Group led by Parish Councillors.
Finchampstead Future
The Parish Council recruited a community team of volunteers, known as Finchampstead Future (FF), including 5 Parish Councillors (supporting the process in a personal capacity). Over 30 people contributed during the lifetime of the project and special care was taken to ensure the best possible diversity within the group, as well as having the experience of individuals with specialist skills.
To create the Plan, the group researched local opinion, analysed data and statistics and employed the resources of professional consultants.
Extensive consultation on the plan took place as it progressed including a parish wide postal household survey in 2019 which generated 1000 replies; two six-week public consultations on draft proposals in 2019 and 2021 led by FF and a further six-week consultation in 2022 led by WBC; public newsletters; mailshots to all homes in the parish; public events; a dedicated FF web page and a presence on Facebook.
Most of the work was financed through a government grant but Parish Council funds were also provided.
The Plan was approved by the Parish Council and deemed fit for purpose and compliant with the guidelines by an Independent Examiner.
You can view a copy of the FNDP, the Referendum Results and the Consultation Survey Results and Reports below.
- The Finchampstead Neighbourhood Development Plan (FNDP) – Referendum Version
- Declaration of Result of Poll
- October – November 2019 Consultation Survey Results
- January – February 2021 Regulation 14 Consultation Document Report
- October – November 2021 Second Phase Regulation 14 Consultation, phase 2 Report
Details of the examination process and related documents, including the steps involved in producing a neighbourhood plan, can be found on WBC’s neighbourhood planning webpage.
