Residents give views to help shape strategy

Work is on going to form an action plan for the village, focusing on aspects such as housing, tourism and retail, among others things.

Recently, locals had the chance to have their say, and the feedback has proved vital for moving the strategy onto the next stage.

Longhoughton Parish Council vice-chairman, Coun Adrian Hinchcliffe, who is heavily involved in the action plan, said: “Overall, 48 people attended the consultation sessions, allowing people to express their views on the needs and issues of Longhoughton and to listen to the views of other people.

“It proved to be a very beneficial way of getting people to outline their views and to enter into a debate. Many good ideas have come out of this. Thank you also to those people who decided to complete the survey online or by hard copy.

“The focus groups brought out many strategic and forward-thinking issues, such as should there be a village boundary and planning envelope?; new housing seems to be going ahead without planning the consequences in terms of infrastructure and facilities; should there be community-based housing?; has the adequacy of the primary school been looked at as a result of increased housing?; and that the recreational areas need to be carefully reviewed.

“The parish council needs to have a plan for the next five to 10 years and we must have evidence to demonstrate that the plan links to people’s needs and views.

“The steering group will meet to summarise all the information from residents so that it can be sent to each household for review and comment.

“It is perhaps too early to draw conclusions from this exercise, but it is becoming clear that Longhoughton needs a detailed development plan that brings together the built environment including housing, retailing, recreation, social, sporting, tourism, environmental conservation and the connectivity between all of these.”