The major item in our meeting of the 11th April was a presentation by Bernard Besly on his preliminary analysis of the results. I would like to personally thank Bernard for the huge amount of hard work and expertise which he put into this process. I would also like to thank Education Survey and Research for undertaking the difficult job of digitising 152 written responses. Some very clear patterns emerge from the data and we decided on the following five provisional policy headings for the next phase of the plan:
Housing: the development of this policy awaits the completion of the Houing Needs Survey which in turn is dependent on the LA comleting its Strategic Housing Market Assessemnt. We anticipate a completion in early July. att
Transport: parking and road safety remain major concerns. A close link with the developing university masterplan and a promised holistic review of parking issues in Keele by Staffordshire County Council will be key in developing this policy.
Local Facilities: village facilities such as the pub, St Johns, shop and the village hall are significant assets. The policy will be concerned to ensure their sustainability as well as considering futher facilities such as a village green.
Business: Links with the university and the university’s master plan, the rural economy and supporting SME’s will all form an important part of this policy.
Environment: conserving the character, distinctiveness and heritage of the parish in a rapidly changing world.
I have attached Bernard’s presentation. Our next meeting will be at 19:00 on Tuesday 9th May, the venue is to be finalised but will not be the village hall.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me regarding the attached results. I would note that our question on housing assumed that additional houses would be built in the parish and could be seen as a leading. This was discussed in the design phase of the questionnaire and it was decided to include a question on what sort of housing residents would like to see developed as the Neighbourhood Plan exists to guide development and cannot prevent it. Nevertheless some respondents did note they wanted no further houses or only limited development as we anticipated. To remind us all, the lower ceiling for development lies outside our control and sits with the Borough and its developing Joint Local Plan. We can influence what is built and where.
Keele Neighbourhood Development Plan 