Neighbourhood Planning
A neighbourhood plan is a community led planning framework for guiding the future development, regeneration and conservation of an area. It contains aims, visions, planning policies and proposals for improving an area or providing new facilities. It deals with a wide range of social, economic and environmental issues such as housing, employment, heritage
and transport. A neighbourhood plan will be
part of the statutory development plan for
an area if successful at referendum. This statutory
status gives neighbourhood plans far more weight.
At its Parish Council meeting on Monday 21st May 2018, the Parish Council approved terms of reference for the newly formed Neighbourhood Planning group and agreed a period for the plan of 20 years.
For further information visit hurstplan.uk
Recording sightings of wildlife in Hurst
The UK is amongst the most nature-depleted counties in the world with continuing declines in many species of birds, mammals, insects and plants.
Biodiversity is an increasingly important tool for controlling and managing development in urban and rural communities.
Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) will assess the richness of biodiversity for all sites subject to planning applications and this can weigh heavily on whether a site receives approval. WBC gathers biodiversity data from a number of sources including Thames Valley Environmental Record Centre (TVERC). TVERC in turn accesses information from a host of wildlife recording sites. One of these sites is iRecord. The iRecord site can be accessed through your PC (or Smart phone app) which allows you to manage and share your wildlife sightings.
At present the records for our village are not very extensive or up to date and so we are encouraging parishioners to register with iRecord and start logging the wildlife you see and particularity those species on the at-risk list. However, do not ignore common species as they could find themselves on the at-risk list in the future.
The easiest way to make sure your records are used in local-decision making is to submit your records directly to TVERC via iRecord.
How to share your records
All wildlife sightings are important and TVERC welcomes records of any wildlife that you have observed in Berkshire or Oxfordshire. There are several ways in which you can share these with them. You do have to register with iRecord initially.
TVERC has its own online recording activity in iRecord here.
Entering sightings via this activity allows us to quickly and easily add the data to our database.
If you have never used iRecord before, TVERC has made a quick video guide on adding a record through the app or the website. When using the app you need to join and then select Activities and select TVERC Species Records as your default.
If you use a different online recording website or app, please download the data in a .csv file and email it to TVERC at tverc@oxfordshire.gov.uk.
Remember to take photos too as this will help verify your records.
Once you have entered a record,
• You can amend or delete a record, explore your own or all records
• Explore records of a particular species.
• Explore records for Hurst
• Know once your records have been verified
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For further information visit hurstplan.uk
Statement in relation to Local Green Space Designation in Hurst - 10th March 2021
In the St Nicholas Hurst Parish Council’s (SNHPC) meeting of 6th July 2020, attending Councillors – who are all unpaid, local volunteers – were asked to reflect and vote on three undeveloped land sites to put forward for potential Local Green Space (LGS) designation by Wokingham Borough Council. These three sites were the large horse and donkey fields located between Tape Lane and Lodge Road, the Hurst Cricket Club, and the field in the centre of the village between School Road and Orchard Road.
Willowmead 5HU006- Land between Lodge Road and Tape Lane 5HU008/5HU016/5HU031 were submitted to WBC for Housing in the Local Plan process- link below:
Councillors unanimously voted to put all three sites forward for LGS consideration by Wokingham Borough Council on the basis the Borough Council would contact landowners and carry out a full assessment of the sites. This was driven by a belief that it is the SNHPC’s duty to try and protect, whenever possible, the natural character and most cherished green spaces found within the Parish. In making their decision, Councillors were conscious that these sites were owned by private landowners, so reviewed information about each of the locations and discussed relevant anecdotes and recent survey feedback from local residents.
Over recent weeks it has become clear to Councillors that there is considerable ongoing local interest and concern from some landowners about the future of these three sites. As a result the SNHPC has decided that a more democratic means to decide on the fate of the Parish’s green spaces is required.
To properly effect that democratic process, the SNHPC has now revoked the three potential LGS sites put forward for consideration by Wokingham Borough Council, preferring instead to engage local residents via the mechanism of the established Neighbourhood Plan. These plans are designed specifically to enable communities to play a much stronger role in shaping the areas in which they live and work, including to determine what locations need greatest protection from development, or indeed are in most need of development. Hurst’s Neighbourhood Plan has consistently been championed by the SNHPC. More information about these plans can be found on the Parish Council’s website at http://www.hurstplan.uk/
There is expected to be an opportunity for a local referendum on the Neighbourhood Plan relevant to the Parish of Hurst by 2022. The SNHPC encourages residents to review this plan in detail and to vote on it when the next opportunity arises.
SNHPC remains committed to trying to protect the natural character and most cherished green spaces within the Parish.
ENDS