Myland & Braiswick Neighbourhood Plan Review

FOREWORD

This is the Myland and Braiswick Neighbourhood Plan (the Plan).

As part of the 2011 Localism Act the Government introduced the idea of neighbourhood plans. Through such plans greater local level influence is possible over how communities are shaped. Our Plan has extra powers under planning law. It was voted for through local referendum and Colchester Borough Council (CBC) must use it in determining planning applications. It forms part of the statutory development plan for the area, sitting alongside CBC's Local Plan.

Because north Colchester was under intense development pressure Myland Community Council (MCC) and Braiswick Residents Association (BRA) joined forces to produce the Plan. The Plan focuses on the protection and enhancement of the community's quality of life within an ongoing passage of housing and other development. The Plan Area is shown at Appendix A.

The Plan was built upon the Myland Design Statement, the Myland Parish Plan (both adopted by CBC as Supplementary Planning Documents) and various community engagement exercises concluding with a survey questionnaire to every household in the Plan Area. The Plan was adopted by CBC in December 2016 with a review point in 2021. It covered the CBC Local Plan period of 2017 – 2032. The Plan was reviewed annually by the Plan's Working Group to assess developments against the adopted policies and reported to MCC's Full Council.

The formal 2021 review has been completed and updated with community comments from a health and well-being survey carried out in 2020 and another all-household survey in January/February 2022. It was important to re-engage with residents as many will have been new to the Plan Area.

This revised Plan is therefore based on evidenced community feedback and has been interpreted and developed by the Review Steering Group. The Review mirrors the Myland Design Statement (MDS) aim to "manage change, not prevent it". As stated above the MDS was adopted as planning guidance in 2010 by CBC as a Supplementary Planning Document. Where appropriate recommendations from the MDS have been integrated into the Plan's policies and rationale to bring added refinement