Tiptree Neighbourhood Plan
Tiptree Neighbourhood Plan 2022 – 2033
Regulation 16 Consultation Version August 2022
(29) 1 Foreword
1.1 It is with great pleasure that we present to you this Neighbourhood Plan for Tiptree. It has been possible thanks to the involvement of hundreds of individuals and an army of volunteers. From those who contributed through the community questionnaire or public engagement exhibitions, the volunteers who spent hours of their time throughout 2017-20 compiling and analysing the data to those who have assessed sites or helped write the plan itself; this has truly been a community endeavour. It has been a challenging process completing one of the most complex Neighbourhood Plans in the country and there have been many obstacles to overcome. Not least of these was the granting of the appeal to build 200 houses in Barbrook Lane, contrary to the objectives of the Neighbourhood Plan. This Plan has had to accommodate that development and therefore plans for an additional 400 new homes. Nevertheless, the result is a Neighbourhood Plan that meets the Colchester Borough Council housing targets. Whilst a further 130 houses were granted permission in May 2022 on land at Kelvedon Road, also on appeal, the site allocations in the Neighbourhood Plan are sustainable and together maximise the benefits for the existing community and new residents in Tiptree.
1.2 Though the prospect of new development may not always be popular and may bring many challenges; it also has the potential to bring the new life that is needed to maintain a vibrant and dynamic community. Well planned development brings benefits such as improvements in roads, services and amenities. Unfortunately this has not always been achieved in Tiptree. This is because new development has, in the past, been imposed on Tiptree without the protection of a Neighbourhood Plan and consequently the village has been left with a lack of infrastructure and poor road layouts.
1.3 Through the Neighbourhood Planning process the Government has given local communities genuine opportunities to influence the future of the places where they live. It allows communities to determine where new houses, businesses and shops should go. It gives us a say in what types of housing we want to see and what our houses and estates should look like.
1.4 As part of the Government's commitment to build housing, Colchester Borough Council is required to enable the delivery of 13,800 homes by 2033 (920 per year).Tiptree's share of this allocation is 600 homes, now including the development at Barbrook Lane. Whilst we cannot affect this development, the Neighbourhood Plan will allow us to take control over the next 15 years, to influence where development of the 400 dwellings and other uses takes place, as well as the type and quality of that development and to ensure that the change it brings meets local objectives.
1.5 This Neighbourhood Plan provides for the delivery of 400 new dwellings in a manner that will accommodate the needs of future residents and also enhance the community infrastructure to maintain a vibrant community. The estates will be sympathetically planned as befits a rural location and in line with the assessed needs. The estates will come with community open space, including allotments. There will be green 'buffer areas' to shield existing development from the new and there will be the first phases of the northern link road to improve traffic flow. Future phases of the link road are located outside of this Neighbourhood Plan area and are therefore outside the scope of this Plan. It is envisaged future phases of the road will be delivered through another plan making process outside of this Neighbourhood Plan. Furthermore there is the creation of a new business area and the potential to improve the services offered in the village centre, including the provision of land for a new, bigger, health centre.
1.6 If we fail to produce a neighbourhood plan that is acceptable to the community, to Colchester Borough Council and to the independent examiner, we will lose influence over development and this would be likely to mean we must accept pressure from speculative development. Instead of shaping development we will be living in reaction to it. Of course we would all like Tiptree to continue to be a great place to live, not only for us but for future generations and that is why your involvement in this process is so important.
Foreword to the Regulation 16 Version
Tiptree Neighbourhood Plan went to the Regulation 14, six-week public consultation from 11th March to 1st May 2022. During that period there were two Neighbourhood Plan exhibitions attended by some 160 people; copies of the plan were widely available and ultimately over 200 responses were received. These responses have been carefully analysed and reveal strong support for the proposed plan with between 77 and 87 percent of respondents choosing 'agree' or 'mostly agree' for each of the fourteen policies. Overall, of those voting, 74 percent of respondents said they would be inclined to support the plan at referendum. In addition over 500 comments have been carefully considered and the plan has been adjusted in the light of these. The result is the plan before you. It is substantially the same as the Consultation Edition but the wording of many of the policies has been adjusted for the sake of clarity and precision. In this respect, under planning law, there are some things that a Neighbourhood Plan may require of developers and other things that can only be supported or encouraged. Nevertheless these aspirations are included within the policies to maximise the likelihood of their delivery. In summary, we believe that this plan represents the wishes of the majority of the community and will result in sustainable development that will benefit the life of the village into the foreseeable future. We hope it will find your support.
Tiptree's Tower Mill was built in 1775 and replaced a Post Mill which stood on the opposite side of Church Road in the grounds of Milldene.