NEWS RELEASES
How community is shaping district’s future
3rd December 2004
NEARLY three years have gone by since Horsham’s first Community Partnership was launched, and much progress has been made in that time.
The most recent meeting of the group was held at Roffey Park Management College in November when representatives from organizations and services representing the whole of the district gathered to review performance.
What is all this work for? The objective of the Partnership is to ensure that people from all walks of life have a real say in the long term provision of the district’s services and facilities by preparing a blueprint that outlines goals and aspirations that our communities can agree on and wish to see achieved.
The first big step was publication last year of a Vision and Priorities consultation document which covered how the district might evolve up to the year 2013, and many of you will have seen this. This was followed by publication of the Action Plan for 2004-05 and now we are working towards final agreement of a Community Strategy by early next year.
How our communities develop, and the planning process itself, can seem mightily complex at times and I have little doubt that some people find all the new names and reports a bit confusing. So, how does it all dovetail into place?
The Horsham Community Partnership is a really important new component, for it outlines what the community itself says are the priorities and it can be seen as an over-arching “umbrella” for the whole process of community development. Working parallel with the Partnership is a host of other community based “think tanks” provided by Parish Plans, Market Town Action Plans and Neighbourhood Appraisals.
In the Horsham district we have 32 parishes producing their own Parish Plans, including Market Town Action Plans representing Billingshurst, Pulborough, Steyning, Storrington/Sullington and three Neighbourhood Appraisals representing the Denne, Forest and Trafalgar areas of Horsham town.
All of the local intelligence produced by these reports is fed into what we call The Local Development Framework (LDF), a new structure which replaces the former Horsham District Local Plan. We are now moving rapidly towards completion of the new LDF for Horsham district which will give us a development strategy up to year 2016 and will help deliver the goals outlined by the Community Partnership. We are proposing to publish the “preferred options” in January for public comments. The document will be finalized by September 2005 with public examination by a Government inspector due early in 2006.
One of the key changes to procedure brought in by the Government will mean that any rulings by the Inspector will be binding on us, without further chance of challenge. Once the Inspector has reported, Horsham district’s development framework will be firmly established for another ten year span.
Hundreds of people have taken part in this preparation work and many more will be involved in the continuing process. My thanks go out to everyone who has given up their time and expertise to help us achieve what we trust will be the best for Horsham’s future.
Ends
Councillor Sheila Van Den Bergh, The Chairman, Horsham District Council, Park North, North Street, Horsham, RH12 1RH.
E-mail: contactchairman@horsham.gov.uk
CONTACT:Richard Morris, Communications Manager
(01403) 215549