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Boughton Monchelsea COVID-19 support network

Please get in touch if you need our help

For further info and links click on the 'COVID-19 support' tab above

With the new lockdown now upon us, the Parish Council would like to advise you that the Boughton Volunteers (set up during the first lockdown in March) are still there to support you.

Boughton Monchelsea Volunteers was set up by the Parish Council to provide support during the COVID-19 crisis to those people within the parish who are self-isolating as a result of symptoms, age or health condition. We are aware that many of you who are or will be self-isolating as a result of symptoms or being 'at risk' due to age or health conditions would under normal circumstances be leading fully independent lives.

If you are self-isolating then you have to protect yourself and others by staying at home for the relevant period of time but we're here to assist in any way we can. We can help with things like picking up shopping and urgent supplies but whatever your need is just get in touch. This is not just for the elderly, it's for every one of us here in Boughton Monchelsea.

If you are being supported already by Boughton Monchelsea Helping Hands then please don't worry, this will continue and there is no need to contact us unless you need any further help. 

Please contact your local Volunteer Coordinator if you need any help at all, we will be happy to assist. 

Contact details for all the Coordinators are shown below. If you are unable to get hold of your co-ordinator then please contact Cllr Steve Munford on 01622 741310.

Boughton Monchelsea Neighbourhood Plan

Update December 2020

We have recently received the report of the independent Examiner into the Neighbourhood Plan. We are delighted that he has recommended that the Plan, with some amendments, proceed to local referendum.

Now that the report has been received, the Neighbourhood Plan will be given “significant weight” by MBC in planning decisions in the parish. This is a great step forward in making sure that the views of local people are taken into account in planning decisions.

We would like to thank all the local people and volunteers who have worked on the Neighbourhood Plan and supported it through to this important stage.     

The Examiner has endorsed our approach to planning policies for the protection of landscape and encouragement of biodiversity in the parish, for the design of new houses, protection of heritage assets, for reducing light pollution from new development, and other issues which local people consider important. He has recommended some amendments to make the Plan clearer and more aligned with national and local MBC planning policy, and it is normal for Examiners to make some recommended changes to neighbourhood plans.

You can read the Examiner’s Report below.

It is also available on the MBC website.

What Happens Next?    

MBC’s Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Committee will formally consider the Examiner’s recommendations. We anticipate this will be early in 2021. If agreed, the amended Neighbourhood Plan will proceed to a local referendum organised by MBC and involving voters in the parish. National Covid 19 regulations mean that this will not be before May 2021 at the earliest. 

If there is a positive vote for the Neighbourhood Plan it will be adopted by MBC as a part of their development plan and will be given full weight in planning decisions as set out in law.   

All the documents which the Parish Council submitted as part of the Neighbourhood Plan process are below, and here is a brief explanation of each.

Neighbourhood Plan draft March 2020  – this sets out planning policies which, if we are successful in the independent Examination and subsequent referendum, will be used by MBC to help make planning decisions in the parish.

Consultation Statement  and Appendices 2019 – this describes all the community consultation the Parish Council have carried out on the Plan as it was drafted, and how your comments have shaped its contents.   

Basic Conditions Statement  2020 -  a Neighbourhood Plan  has to meet various legal requirements, known as the “Basic Conditions”.  This document explains how the Plan complies.  It also lists all the publicly available sources of information used to help develop the Plan.  

Environmental Statement 2019 – this is another legal requirement, and it explains why key national bodies consider that the Plan does not require a Strategic Environmental Assessment or a Habitats Regulation Assessment.

We have also submitted key pieces of information and reports which were compiled specifically for Boughton Monchelsea to help us develop the Plan:

Colvin and Moggridge, Boughton Monchelsea Landscape Management and Masterplan 2018 – this report was prepared by landscape architects to help the Parish Council understand, maintain and improve the landscape of the parish in partnership with landowners.  

Colvin and Moggridge, Boughton Monchelsea Priority Local Landscape 2019 – this report by landscape architects identifies an area of high quality landscape which is proposed for protection in the Neighbourhood Plan

Boughton Monchelsea Housing Needs Survey 2018, Action for Rural Communities Kent – this report supports the Plan’s policies on housing

A folder of additional parish-specific Evidence on Flood Risk, MBC Housing Register and Housing Density – these are shorter documents which support the Plan’s policies on locally important topics