The Making of Thame Neighbourhood Plan 2

QUESTIONS ASKED DURING THE CONSULTATION

Q: Why Should I Vote?

A: Neighbourhood planning was introduced under the Localism Act 2011 to give local communities more control in the planning of their neighbourhoods. Neighbourhood Plans give new rights and powers to local communities to help shape new development in their area.

Neighbourhood Plans also enable communities to develop a shared vision for their neighbourhood and deliver the sustainable development they need through planning policies relating to the development and use of land.

After four consultations and more than 1,600 sets of comments, the final draft of Thame’s Neighbourhood Plan 2 (TNP2) was submitted for independent examination in June this year, where the examiner recommended that it proceed to referendum.

Q: We’ve already given support. Why do we need to vote in the Referendum?

A: The Thame Neighbourhood Plan has been subject to 4 rounds of consultation and has been scrutinised by residents and businesses and experts across many fields, such as Historic England, the Environment Agency and local flood risk specialists, school planning teams, etc. It has been examined and approved by an independent planning specialist.

However, this isn’t enough. Neighbourhood Plans are unique in needing the majority of local residents to vote for them. Only then can the document be fully used when judging local planning applications.

Q: Why are you proposing to build homes in the flood plain?

A: All of the homes proposed in TNP2 would be built on sites of lowest probable risk, as defined by the Environment Agency and other authorities. As part of the planning process the developers will have to prove the homes will not be at risk of flooding from any water source between now and the next 100 years, even after taking into account the much higher rainfall events expected due to climate change.

Q: Will new development increase the flood risk for existing homes in Thame and villages downstream?

A: New roofs, roads and patios add hard surfaces that will shed rainwater. Any development will have to have means of capturing and storing this water on site and slowly release it at a rate that would not be greater than if it the development had not happened. 

Developers will be asked to provide sufficient storage for an extreme 1-in-100 year rainfall event, with a large allowance added (typically 30-40%) to cope for increased rainfall due to climate change. This should ensure neighbouring houses and communities downstream of Thame will not see any change to their flood risk.

Q: We’ve just seen in the news that flood risk is growing across the country.  Has this Plan taken account of the latest information?

A: The most up-to-date information available was used in developing the Plan. The Environment Agency releases new flood risk maps roughly every 5 years, with improvements made as technology improves and information is received. The new maps have yet to be published.

However, the Plan is future-proof in this matter and any current or future planning application would have to take account of the latest information and advice. This means that while the sites chosen in the Plan have been considered capable of being used by the Environment Agency and other flood specialists, the very latest information will be used to check there will be no new or altered risk.

Q: Our doctors and schools are overflowing.  Why are we building more homes?

A: The houses were allotted to Thame by the District Council through their District-wide Local Plan for houses and jobs.  The local education and health services had input into both the District’s Local Plan and Thame’s TNP2 and did not object to the numbers of homes proposed for Thame, meaning we cannot stop these homes being built on those grounds. 

When developers put forward planning applications for the sites in TNP2 the health and educations services will ask for money to make sure they can provide services to the occupants of the new homes.

Q: What about sewage?  The existing treatment works in Thame can’t cope and are polluting the local river.

A: Thames Water are legally obliged to connect services to developers. However, they will and have, made comments to planning applications noting improvement works are needed. 

The Environment Agency are monitoring Thames Water’s activities and have also commented on the need for new facilities. Both are calling for no new large developments to be allowed to be occupied until improvements have been made to the Thame Sewage Treatment Works. Some improvements are already in the pipeline for 2025.

Q: Water pressure is already low at Oxford Road. Won’t adding more houses make that worse?

A: Thames Water have asked for time to allow them to provide improvements to the local network of pumps before any new houses are allowed to be occupied.  This could improve the water pressure for the existing housing, too.

Q: Are you building on what was protected open space at Oxford Road?

A: Oxford Road had a reserve site kept for future housing and education needs. These areas were unknowingly underlain by archaeology of national significance. 

Through TNP2 it is proposed to use some of the land that was made available to walk through (but not on) for housing, while re-providing open space on the area kept for archaeology. There will be no net loss of open space and large areas have now been proposed as publicly usable parkland.

Q: Traffic is already a problem for Thame. Will the new homes and industrial areas make this worse?

A: TNP2 has worked to identify where and how new footpath and bicycle paths can be provided to make it easier for people to walk and wheel to key locations such as the Town Centre. 

People will still need to use cars and buses, though, and the Highways Authority have stated they are content that the development TNP2 proposes can be delivered without causing disruption.  When each site comes forward for planning permission they will be scrutinised again to test the impact on the local network.  Developers will likely be asked to contribute to local road, bus and walking and cycling projects, too.

Q: Why aren’t existing trees and wildlife being protected?

A: The District have tree and ecology specialists who agree what trees and habitats should be kept on development sites. Where trees and hedgerows, etc. are lost, planning rules mean the developers have to provide more planting and habitats than what was lost to leave sites better off for nature in the longer term. 

Furthermore, the specialist officers recommend native trees and plants for play, landscaping and amenity areas and that rainwater runoff is held in natural pond-like features rather than storage tanks. 

Q: What happened to the bicycle route to Haddenham and Thame Parkway?  This was given support in the first Thame Neighbourhood Plan.

A: Legally, TNP2 cannot plan outside of its boundaries but does give it strong support as a project.  Oxfordshire County Council will be able to ask for funds from developers in and around Thame to help deliver the cycleway and similarly, Buckinghamshire Council will seek funds from developments in Haddenham. It remains the intention of both those Councils to build the cycleway and provide an onward connection into Buckinghamshire’s Greenway network.

Q: Why are you building on agricultural land? This should be kept for food.

A: There isn’t enough used, or brownfield land to provide for the housing and employment needs allocated for Thame.  There also appears to be little difference between the sites put forward for development around Thame in terms of their quality and uses.

ADDRESSING CONCERNS

There has been insufficient consultation with local residents when preparing the Plan.

The Plan has been Examined by an independent planning expert who has judged dozens of neighbourhood plans.  The Examiner has stated he was satisfied the Plan has complied with the required regulations and had an inclusive approach in seeking the opinions of all throughout the process.

The Environment Agency has objected to the development at Oxford Road because of flood risk.

The Environment Agency has informed the developer of the detailed information they need to be presented with before the Agency can approve any submitted flood risk assessment.  The site includes the areas of housing as well as the proposed public open space and footpaths.  Until this information has been provided the Agency must continue to object.

We do not need more employment land, there is no unemployment in Thame.

There are very few opportunities for Thame businesses to expand or growth in Thame or nearby.  Without viable long-term sites businesses will have to plan to move away.  Between 2011 and 2020, our working age population grew by over 1,200 people but our employment land did not.

The land swap at Oxford Road only benefits the developer.

The land swap would not have been needed but under the area reserved for more housing and school use nationally significant archaeology was found that must not be disturbed.

The Plan is anti-car and is getting rid of car parking.

The Plan recognises that Thame is a market town that serves nearby residents and visitors.  The Policy on parking looks to keep all town centre parking and would only allow its loss where up to date surveys prove the Town Centre has capacity.  Even then, the loss would have to be accompanied by improvements to the public realm, such as new green areas and providing better provision for those with mobility difficulties.

Because of windfall development (applications for housing away from sites identified within plans) TNP2 would build more homes in Thame than we need to.

A great deal of work went into making sure the District Council had an accurate and up to date list of what houses had been gained or lost through new build, demolition, conversion and sub-divisions in Thame. 

The Plan has taken into account all homes completed, sites under construction and with planning permission up to 1 April 2023 when, to make sure everyone was looking at the same figures, the tally was frozen.  Almost all houses built since them would, therefore, have already counted towards supply.  The numbers we have left to deliver (143) are, therefore, balanced either by the allocated sites in TNP2 or those sites already on their way to being delivered.