SUMMER UPDATE ON BREINTON’S NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

Many thanks to everyone who came and spoke with parish councillors at the Community Farm open day on 8th June. There was support for the draft vision for the Parish between now and 2031 which currently reads:

‘To develop Breinton as a sustainable, rural parish essentially producing food and providing vital opportunities for informal outdoor recreation and tourism through enhancing its natural environment as green infrastructure assets for the City of Hereford and its residents’

However; a few people felt it should be simpler. Is this your vision for Breinton? Is there anything that should be added or removed? Please let your Parish Council know. Contact details are at the back of this magazine.

We have also been working on a number of objectives which will help achieve the vision. These are

  • To promote a level of housing growth that is proportionate to the size of Breinton and retains the area’s essentially rural character
  • To ensure that new housing in Breinton is provided in a suitable range of tenures, types and sizes so that local people of all ages can continue to live in suitable home, families are attracted to the area and local housing needs are
  • To encourage all new developments to adopt the best possible environmental standards available at the time
  • To protect the best quality agricultural land as a scarce national resource and support the growth of local agriculture and fruit growing, by where ever possible using traditional farming practices
  • To protect Breinton parish’s limited community assets and to encourage provision of additional, appropriate community assets
  • To protect and improve a network of lanes, cycleways, footpaths and bridleways within Breinton
  • To ensure that the Breinton Neighbourhood Plan has widespread community support and takes account of any cross boundary issues emerging from neighbouring neighbourhood Plans including the use of the parish by community and local sports groups
  • To continue as one of the green lungs of Hereford City, providing recreational opportunities for walking, cycling and river based activities
  • To recognise and support the local heritage and landscape expressed in traditional orchards, the diversity of wildlife habitats, the work of artists such as Brian Hatton and the fine rural views along the River Wye and in all directions from hilltops and ridges

These are all based on what you have told us is important, in particular in the answers you gave to the Community Led Plan questionnaire last Spring.

The Steering Group is now working on planning policies which can put these objectives into practice in Breinton. Such policies could:

Set boundaries around our settlements so that building is usually within these boundaries in future or,

Identify the most appropriate sites for building in future or,

Set criteria for all future building proposals to be assessed against

Set conditions for the re-use of empty buildings

Set conditions for the design of buildings

Identify an appropriate range of tenures, types and sizes of housing

Seek to protect the best and most versatile agricultural land, soils and traditional farming practices

Identify existing community assets and seek to protect these for the future

Set conditions for any development that affected these community assets

Identify and protect certain lanes, footpaths etc.

Set conditions for any development that affects these routes

Identify certain routes for improvement

Support any objectives we share with parishes like Stretton Sugwas

Identifykey features of our environment and green infrastructure,

Set conditions for any development that affects these features

Seek to protect features such as views, field boundaries, hedgerows etc.

Address issues like renewables, drainage and the western relief road

Work will continue on these throughout the summer and the next display will be at the annual fete at Breinton House on July 13th. On behalf of the Parish Council, I hope to see you there. In the meantime, please contact us if you have any thoughts on what you have just read in this article.

Tony Geeson

On behalf of Breinton Parish Council