Many who watched the Kings Speech on Wednesday may be wondering whether the planned expansion in house building and focus on economic growth will impact their area.

As rural communities know well new homes, facilities and infrastructure in the right place can be a valuable asset to towns and villages. What the right place looks like will be very different from place to place – which is why taking charge and creating a plan for your community, based on the community’s own needs and priorities, can be such a rewarding approach. ONH Planning for Good specialises in working with communities to support them through the where, how and why of future planning.

The emphasis in the Kings Speech on development and, importantly, infrastructure, means this is an excellent time for rural communities to start planning ahead.

A good place to start is reflecting on what common complaints you hear about the area, and whether the way development will be delivered in the future could impact on whether the problem got worse or better. Common worries include:

• Not enough affordable housing, or the wrong type of housing
• Concerns about recreational green spaces or countryside being built on unnecessarily
• Loss of employment areas
• Transport concerns: heavy traffic, poor cycle or walking routes
• Local heritage and history not fully recognised or protected

ONH: Planning for Good is an award-winning social enterprise specialising in Neighbourhood Planning and community-led planning consultancy, including design codes and aftercare. Working principally with town and parish councils, we are ideally placed to discuss your village, town or rural community needs and how best to deliver the changes you would like to see.

ONH worked on 43 different projects last year, including the finalisation of the Neighbourhood Plan for Deddington, in Oxfordshire. Deddington, Clifton & Hempton villages decided to work together to create their Neighbourhood Plan. Working with ONH the villages identified the key local concerns as a need for nursery provision, affordable housing, and traffic and parking concerns.

After assessing the options, a site was identified and allocated in the Neighbourhood Plan that would deliver 85-90 residential dwellings, the nursery and public parking at a suitable location in Deddington. Choosing to allocate over the minimum housing requirement figure (in this case 45 dwellings) is an increasingly popular choice amongst towns and villages who know they need s106 development funding to solve infrastructure concerns.

Planning for the future isn’t just about housing development. Recent projects include the Green Belt village of Ruscombe and city’s edge community South Newnham who both worked extensively on green space policies that they felt would protect the character of each area.

Design Codes: which analyse the built and green environment of the existing area and creates a guide for how future development should look, feel and function; can also be a great option.

If now feels like the right time to proactively plan for your community’s future, please get in touch with ONH Planning for Good via [email protected]