At the December 2020 meeting, Fawkham Parish Council (FPC) discussed the idea of preparing a Neighbourhood Plan for Fawkham, and considered the benefits and implications, including the fact that this is not the ideal time to ask for more money. We also took into account the feedback received from residents, following the distribution of a leaflet to all houses in the village, with three times as many in favour of preparing a plan than not. FPC voted unanimously to proceed with the preparation of a Neighbourhood Plan. This decision will mean that the Parish element of Council Tax will increase for 2021/2 and 2022/3.
Work on the Plan will start in the new year, and the first formal step in the process, the designation of the Neighbourhood Plan area by Sevenoaks District Council, will be applied for in January. We will also set up the project and begin to build the evidence base by reviewing existing information and developing further, more localised evidence. A Neighbourhood Plan is most successful if all of the community engages with it and we hope that further community engagement using face-to-face methods will be possible in the near future. The evidence gathered and the outcomes of community engagement will then inform the development of a vision and policies for the plan, with further community engagement and feedback on the proposals. This process is likely to take 12-18 months.
More information can be found on the Neighbourhood Plan page, which will be updated and used throughout the creation of the Plan to keep residents up to date.
Please do get in touch if you have the skills, experience, time and, most importantly, the willingness to help by joining our Steering Group or a working group on a particular topic, such as environment, biodiversity, infrastructure, housing or urban design.
