Have a say in the development of Uppingham
The Uppingham Neighbourhood Plan gives a unique opportunity for residents and businesses to influence the development of the town up to 2041.
The Advisory Group has consulted widely to ensure that the views expressed are incorporated in the refreshed Uppingham Neighbourhood Plan.
Uppingham Neighbourhood Plan
Welcome
Uppingham, like many other towns, has a Neighbourhood Plan. Our current plan was completed and agreed by residents in 2016. You can read it here.
The Plan has helped to guide the Town Council when considering how the town should be developed over the next few years. It is now in the process of being refreshed in light of changes both within the town and as a result of government guidance.
Uppingham Town Council created the Neighbourhood Planning Advisory Group (NPAG) to work on this revision of our Plan. NPAG was made up of councillors, local interest groups and individuals from the town and has been working hard towards completion of this work. Going forward we are going to address public participation in a slightly different way with the intention of creating greater transparency for the wider public. From January 2025 we will have a new formal sub-committee of the Town Council to advise us on Neighbourhood Plan revisions. We have recently sought nominations from local organisations to serve on this sub-committee alongside some of the Town Councillors. It is intended that any future contact with developers will also be facilitated through this formal sub-committee during Neighbourhood Plan revisions and up-dates.
Currently our Neighbourhood Plan update is with the Independent Examiner who in April 2024 held a public hearing into our plans. The Examiner has requested some changes to our proposals (mainly around using less development sites to achieve the required number of dwellings that we must plan for). We have now made a number of suggested changes to the Examiner and Rutland County Council will be arranging for public consultation on these proposed changes before the Examiner can formally consider them. If agreed by the Examiner, the Town Council will then move the process on to a referendum of the community. At this point you will be asked to approve or reject the updated Neighbourhood Plan. As part of this process I am delighted to welcome you today to our Neighbourhood Plan website where you will be able to see details of the work undertaken on the Uppingham Neighbourhood Plan on your behalf.
I’m sure that, like me, you care about how the town is being developed over the next few years. I invite you therefore to take an active interest in the Neighbourhood Plan and I hope that you will find the website informative and helpful.
Dave Ainslie BEM
Mayor, Uppingham Town Council
Update on the Refreshed Plan and Moving Forward
Our consultant Colin Wilkinson of Planit – X has been working hard on our behalf together with the Town Council on providing information to the Examiner following the queries he has regarding our refreshed Uppingham Neighbourhood Plan.This information is virtually complete and is expected to be ready early December 2024. Rutland County Council then intends to hold another six weeks of consultation on our proposed amendments before submitting them to the Examiner.
The Town Council is very optimistic that the Examiner will find the further information acceptable as we have also been working closely with Rutland County Council to ensure all parties agree on the proposals. Assuming the Examiner then finds our Modifications to the refreshed plan acceptable the next stage will be to hold a Referendum for the electorate. We estimate that the process of arranging the Referendum taking Christmas into account will result in a poll taking place in April/May 2025, the actual date and the poll will be arranged by Rutland County Council.
The Town Council obviously hope the electorate will agree with the proposals and that the Uppingham Neighbourhood Plan comes into force as part of the development plan alongside the Rutland Local Plan. However, the work will not stop once the refreshed plan has gone to Referendum.We are aware the new Labour Government are bringing forward proposals to increase the number of dwellings to be constructed in the Country. Our present understanding is that our allocation of dwellings is likely to be increased by 114%. To put this into context our current refreshed plan allows for 314 dwellings to be constructed, so, possibly under the new legislation we would have to accommodate circa 672 dwellings. With large development of this magnitude it is imperative that we have the ability to determine where this development takes place and what the Town needs to accommodate its impact.
The Town Council has therefore agreed that a new approach is needed to carry out the next refresh of the Neighbourhood Plan and has set up a Neighbourhood Plan Sub Committee. This committee will be chaired by the Town Council chair of the Planning Committee and will further comprise the Mayor, five other Town Councillors and representatives from organisations across the town which include Tod’s Piece Allotment Society, Rutland Morris/CAMRA, Uppingham in Bloom, Leighfield Primary School, Uppingham Community College, Uppingham School, Uppingham Rotary Club, Campaign to Protect Rural England, Uppingham Neighbourhood Forum, Uppingham First, Uppingham Surgery, Limes Firs & Spurs Residents Association, The Elms Residents Association, Beeches Residents Association. It is anticipated that the Sub Committee will have its inaugural meeting in January 2025. Taking into account the current refresh will have taken nearly eight years, work needs to commence on the next stage as soon as possible!
Cllr Barry Hobbs
About Us
Members
Made up of representatives of local organisations and Town Councillors, the Neighbourhood Plan Sub-Committee will be the new group advising the Town Council on any changes or revisions needed to our Neighbourhood Plan. It is intended that any future contact with developers will also be facilitated through this formal sub-committee during Neighbourhood Plan revisions and up-dates.
Find out more
Documentation
Within this website there is a comprehensive library of documents that helps this Uppingham Neighbourhood Plan come to fruition - surveys and reports, minutes and agendas, and much more besides.
News
Latest Announcements
The Town Council has passed a resolution supporting modifications to the submitted neighbourhood plan and in doing so has submitted it in six documents to Rutland County Council for consultation, and onward submission to the External Examiner; these documents are: (1) Retail Evidence paper. (2) Housing Evidence paper. (3) A Modified version of the submitted…
We have now formulated a response to the Independent Examiners questions and concerns. The modified Submission Draft Neighbourhood Plan with an Environmental Report Addendum will be submitted shortly to Rutland County Council. The County Council will publicise the submitted plan for a six-week period and invite comments.
Since our last post on 20th May 2024 we have been working hard to address the questions and concerns raised by the Independent Examiner. In June we decided to engage the services of a Planning Professional Colin Wilkinson of PLAN-IT X to assist us with this task. Mr Wilkinson has now produced two technical reports…