The Local Plan might seem a remote, technical document which isn’t relevant to you, but in fact it’s hugely important in deciding how many houses will be built in the community, how they will be laid out and what they should look like.  It will also set rules to protect our environment, green spaces and built landscape from inappropriate development.  We know, from the recent survey, that these things are important to you. The document also covers affordable housing, and how this can be delivered. It’s a really important document – and Westmorland and Furness Council have announced an ‘early conversation’ survey to get our views on what the new Local Plan should contain.

Think of planning and you might think of complicated rules and red tape, but planning is about the future and future generations, it’s about people and communities and it’s about all of us working together to make sure that the right building and development, of the right design and quality, happens in the right place, at the right time, and the impact of any new development is well managed.

We do this by preparing a Local Plan, which looks ahead 20 years to the year 2045. It carefully considers how many new homes and workplaces our area needs to continue to thrive, while also protecting our local and historic character and special landscapes, green spaces and environment. The Local Plan doesn’t just set out rules – it seeks to make our area better, and is a key tool in helping us to identify and address the challenges for people and wildlife arising from climate change.

https://consult.westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk/localplan/

Why it’s important to share your opinions

The views of the community are critical input into the Local Plan, and our opinions, thoughts, concerns and ideas can help shape the future. Being part of that conversation is important.

How to Contribute

There will likely be various stages at which we can share our opinions. At the moment there are a few ways to join in.

The Early Conversation Survey 2024

You can complete the early conversation survey here: https://consult.westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk/planning-policy/wandf-local-plan-early-conversation-survey-2024/

The Local Plan doesn’t just set out rules – it seeks to make our area better. For example, by reducing the environmental impact of new development, building affordable housing, helping our wildlife and reducing flood risk. It also helps improve our infrastructure (including roads and cycleways, schools, drainage systems, facilities for recycling/waste management and community facilities). It identifies the infrastructure needed to support development and shows how it will be accommodated and provided for.

The Design Code Survey 2024

The second way we can contribute is by filling in the Design Code survey here: https://consult.westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk/planning-policy/westmorland-furness-design-code-survey-2024/

This gives us an opportunity to share local knowledge and ensure the character of our villages is preserved – for example the local ‘Greystoke Pink’ sandstone is specifically mentioned in the existing design code, which says this of the Eden Valley:

A unifying feature of this area is the use of sandstone as the dominant building material. This varies significantly in colour, from the orange/brown of the St. Bees sandstone along the Pennine foothills, the salmon pink and red of the Penrith sandstone, to the beautiful grey/pink of the sandstone from Greystoke and Appleby. The widespread use of this material for buildings and boundary walls lends the whole area an immediate and distinct character.

https://www.eden.gov.uk/media/1457/eden-design-summary.pdf

Westmorland and Furness Council say this on the design code survey:

It’s important for local people to share their views on the Design Code because once adopted the document will be used to help shape developments in the future. It’s crucial that the Design Code team can make sure the Design Code is both technically fit for purpose and reflects local views.

Join in the Online Conversation

The third and final way you can contribute is by joining in on the online ideas message board here: https://consult.westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk/planning-policy/conversation-message-board/

There are already some ideas including making swift bricks mandatory in all new builds, and making a footpath/cycleway from Eamont Bridge to Yanwath.

Surveys Close on 9th September

Please consider joining in the conversation and making your views heard at this early stage. The surveys close on the 9th of September!

Key links

To supplement the above, here are links to the current Eden Local Plan, and Design Guide:

• Eden Local Plan
• Eden Design Guide

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Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill in the survey, whether online, or paper. We got 89 responses in total, and we have spent the past week looking at the answers and working out our next steps. As a group we are committed to sharing information regularly and asking for, and listening to, feedback. So to start that process here is a summary of the survey.

What’s next though? Well we have some volunteers to hopefully recruit to the group to expand our skills, and the survey has given us lots of ideas on what to explore next, notably in terms of understanding any potential infrastructure concerns (See question 8!)

If you’ve got any comments on the results, or would like to help, please get in touch at greystokecommunitygroup@gmail.com or leave a comment below!

1. Do you believe that residents should be more closely involved in housing development within Greystoke and the wider parish?

The first question asked if you thought the community should be more closely involved in housing development, and over 93% of replies said yes.

Percentage Breakdown

Yes: 93.3% (83)
No Strong Opinion: 6.7% (6)

2. Do you think the parish would benefit from the provision of affordable homes to enable more young people and families to live in the parish?

The vast majority of responses to the survey for this question were positive, with nearly 90% agreeing.

Percentage Breakdown

Yes: 89.9% (80)
No: 5.6% (5)
No Strong Opinion: 4 (4.5%)

3. Are you aware of people with a work or family connection to Greystoke who would like to move into the area but are not in a financial position to do so?

40% of respondents are aware of people who would live to move into the area but cannot afford to do so.

Percentage Breakdown

Yes: 40.4% (36)
No: 59.6% (53)

4. Please state your reasons for the answer you gave to question 2, and any information you are willing to share on question 3.

We got some great responses to this question with common themes including diversity of the community and the importance of young people and families being able to live here and support local services and businesses. There was a really strong sentiment in support of the vibrancy of the community and keeping the village alive.

5. If you answered yes to question 2, please indicate how many affordable homes you would approve of.

There looks to be strong support for a good number of affordable houses, with 65% of people selecting 8 or more.

Percentage Breakdown

Don’t Know and 1*: 15.7% (14)
2: 1.1% (1)
4: 4.5% (4)
6: 13.5% (12)
8: 19.1% (17)
More than 8: 46.1% (41)

*Some selected 1 as they didn’t know, and the survey was amended

6. Do you believe that any new affordable homes should have local occupancy restrictions?

An overwhelming 85% of respondents agreed that new affordable homes should have some sort of local occupancy restrictions.

Percentage Breakdown

Yes: 85.4% (76)
No: 4.5% (4)
No Strong Opinion: 10.1% (9)

7. If you answered yes to question 6, what do you think the restrictions should be?

Some of the themes highlighted in responses here were that homes should be the main residence, with no holiday homes allowed and that there should be a local connection, whether through work, especially key workers, or family

8. What, if any, areas of general concern would need to be addressed if more houses were to be built in Greystoke?

Answers to this question has given us some real insights into the potential issues that new housing would bring to the community – and it’s really helped focus us on areas to investigate – so thank you! Some of the main concerns were around infrastructure, whether that be roads, sewerage, traffic volume, the lack of public transport or increased flooding potential. The environment and preserving the character of the village also came across strongly, as well as a desire for the homes to be affordable to run, in terms of being energy efficient, as well as affordable to buy or rent.

9. Do you currently live in Greystoke Parish?

We asked this question to get a better understanding of the replies – and we encouraged people to fill this in whether they lived in the parish, or wanted to move in but couldn’t. 88 of the 89 respondents do live in Greystoke Parish.

Percentage Breakdown

Yes: 98.9%(88)
No: 1.1% (1)

The post Community Housing Survey Results appeared first on Greystoke Community Land Trust.

Our Greystoke Parish Housing Survey is now open – and your views matter! It only takes a few minutes to fill in, and you can do this anonymously. Fill the survey in online here: https://greystokeclt.org.uk/community-survey/ or fill in a paper copy which you should now have received, if you live in the parish. If you haven’t had a paper copy, then there are some spare copies available to pick up at the shop.

Who can fill it in?

If you live in the parish or have a need to move back to the parish, we want to hear from you.

How many people can fill it in per household?

The survey isn’t limited to one per household. We want to hear views from as many people as possible, including, for example, young people thinking ahead to their (and our) future in the community.

When does the survey close?

You’ve got loads of time to fill this in – we’ll close the survey on 14th May

Can you help us?

We’d love to hear from you if you think you have any relevant skills and experience which might be of use as we take this further. You can either leave contacts details and a note of your skills on the survey, or email us direct at greystokecommunitygroup@gmail.com

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