A neighbourhood plan is a way of helping local communities to influence the development of the area in which they live and work. A neighbourhood planning system is essential for supporting local economic growth, improving people’s quality of life and protecting Stainforth’s natural environment.. A neighbourhood plan would give Stainforth a greater say in how/where houses, roads, businesses etc are built.
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What’s included AND what we can decide on?
ENVIRONMENT: There’s ideas to improve and add a country park to Stainforth with the help of this plan.
COMMUNITY FACILITIES: For Stainforth this could mean building a bridge from the train station to Waggon’s Way and having a connecting road from M18 to Stainforth.
ECONOMY: No more takeaways opening in Stainforth! We’ve got enough, don’t you think?
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HOUSING: Building new housing and deciding what type they are plus where they’d be built. It also includes saving those precious historic buildings in Stainforth!
We’ve already lost so many including Stainforth’s Market. We need to keep these gems to remember this history of our town. One historic site is the Hatfield Main Colliery – this is one of the only pits left in the Doncaster area and we should treasure it! There’s plans to restore it to its former glory, have a museum, café and outdoor area. There’s even talk about it becoming a wedding venue!
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Stainforth Town Council has the formal power and responsibility for preparation for the neighbourhood plan, but don’t worry! It has not cost the council any money to do this as funding is coming from an organisation called Locality. Who are they you might ask? Locality is the national network of ambitious and enterprising community-led organisations, working together to help neighbourhoods thrive.
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If you’re a little confused with the process of a neighbourhood plan, which it can be! We’ve broken it into 5 main stages:
1. Agree the Neighbourhood Area – Must be registered and recognised by DMBC
2. Preparing the Plan – With the help of DMBC and Locality funding
3. Independent check – Checked by external auditor
4. Community Referendum – One yes/no question: “Do you want DMBC to use the neighbourhood plan for Stainforth to help it decide planning applications in the Stainforth area?”
5. Making the Plan – If accepted by the referendum DMBC must accept the plan into their framework
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Questionnaire
Earlier this year we asked 10% of the population of Stainforth a neighbourhood questionnaire on what they wanted to see changed in Stainforth and here are the results...
We have now completed stage 2 of the 5 stages of the neighbourhood plan. Next will be hosting workshops with you the public, discussing the results and what you would want. Keep your eyes out for when these workshops will taking place and have your say about YOUR community.