New Forest NPA approves putting Ashurst and Colbury village design statement out for public consultation

A PLAN which will influence future development in Ashurst and Colbury has been “beefed up” before going out for public consultation.

The New Forest NPA is now inviting people to comment on the draft Ashurst and Colbury village design statement until Friday, 6th December.

NPA members were told the draft document reflects that “quite a lot has changed” since the last version was adopted in 2013.

An NPA officer told members the new document would require a period of public consultation until December, followed by a formal decision to readopt it.

Members were told: “The National Planning Policy Framework still supports the preparation of local design guidance, it still supports planning authorities working with their local communities.

“The parish council should be commended for really working with us on this.

“The draft statement gives much more comprehensive coverage on historic buildings in the parish, whether nationally or locally listed, so that it's been beefed up and is more comprehensive now.”

Members heard the 2013 document had “strayed slightly” beyond design guidelines, so the new version has been “pared back… [to focus] more narrowly on local design guidelines”.

The NPA said the document is “aimed at local people, prospective residents, property owners, agents and architects”.

Updates for 2024 include more detail on historic buildings in the parish, as well as information on sustainable practices such as solar panels, heat pumps, electric vehicle charging points, and sympathetic external lighting.

NPA policy and conservation manager David Illsley said: “It’s important that design policies are developed with local communities, taking an area’s defining features into account.

“The revised draft document has been prepared by the parish council working alongside the NPA, and this consultation gives others the opportunity to input into the design guidance for the parish before it is formally adopted.”

He added: ‘Identifying what makes Ashurst and Colbury special enables new development to make a positive contribution to the local distinctiveness and character of the parish.”

Ashurst and Colbury Parish Council aims to have a finalised design statement ready to present to the NPA in January for adoption.

NPA members followed officers’ recommendations to approve the revised Ashurst and Colbury village design statement for a statutory period of public consultation until 6th December – view and comment at newforestnpa.gov.uk/consultations