A document that will set out all areas for major development in Bracknell for the next 15 years will go to a vote next month.

Bracknell Town Council has drawn up a neighbourhood plan that will lay out a blueprint of what it wants the future of Bracknell to look like until 2036.

The plan has five key themes: housing and character; transport and infrastructure, economy and employment; heritage; and environment and community. 36 policies have been devised within the plan covering these themes.

Most importantly, for housing and character, the plan states any backland development must not “unacceptably, adversely, impact on the amenity of neighbours, and will reflect the scale, mass, height and form of neighbouring properties.”

This is laid out as policy HO1 in the Neighbourhood Plan, which also specified that any new development must look similar to neighbouring homes and buildings.

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Backland development has proven unpopular in the area recently. A plan to build a three bedroom home on a garden in Binfield was rejected by Bracknell Forest Council’s planning committee.

The document is supportive of conversions of homes into Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs), as long as they don’t have an unacceptable impact on neighbours, and that enough bin storage, car and cycling parking is provided.

The usual concern for the character of an area is laid out in policy H08, which states that new housing should ‘achieve high quality design that respects the established appearance, scale and character of the design of the particular

neighbourhood in which they are being proposed.’

Additionally, the Neighbourhood Plan sets out six key objectives:

  1.  Improve social, community and leisure facilities and preserve listed buildings and heritage assets
  2. Ensure the range of available housing is appropriate for current residents and for growth, while reducing carbon footprint and preserving the character of the area
  3. To continue to Improve the economic vibrancy of the town centre, and the attractiveness of the town as a whole
  4. To strengthen the employment base and attract a wide variety of businesses to Bracknell
  5. Strengthen the town’s transport infrastructure to ensure that the growth of Bracknell is sustainable
  6. To maintain and improve the quality of the environment for residents

You can view all 36 policies and the objectives in the Bracknell Town Neighbourhood Plan referendum document by clicking the link here.

An interactive map has also been produced which shows the listed buildings and heritage assets the plan would protect, cycle ways and footpaths, and the town centre redevelopment area. You can view the interactive map by clicking the link here.

But what is a Neighbourhood Plan?

A Neighbourhood Plan allows a town or parish council to lay out how it wants development to take place for the next 15 years.

Although the final decision on whether any planning application is approved or rejected is given to Bracknell Forest Council’s planning department or its committee, the opinions and policies of towns or parishes can have a sway on Bracknell Forest Council’s decision.

Neighbourhoods that have plans also get benefits over those which don’t.

Areas which have neighbourhood plans receive 25 per cent of future Community Infrastructure Levy payments (CIL), rather than the standard 15 per cent that areas without plans get.

Once the plan is drawn up, it must then go to a referendum where it will either be approved or rejected.

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This year, Crowthorne Parish Council successfully introduced its own Neighbourhood Plan. A referendum vote was held in May, with 86 per cent of people voting to approve it.

The referendum for Bracknell Town’s Neighbourhood Plan will be held on Thursday, September 9.

Announcing the referendum, Councillor Chris Turrell, Bracknell Town Council leader (Conservative, Harmans Water) said: “For the plan to have come this far is a tribute to the tenacity of the steering group members, in particular in taking it through the more challenging stages of the process.

“The role of local residents in the consultation events has been important to the content of the plan. I encourage residents to look at the Plan, and to take part in the vote on 9 September.”