The Village Design Statement was adopted by Ryedale District Council as a Supplementary Planning Document on 1 September 2016. It now forms part of the legal planning framework and will be used by the Council when determining planning applications.
The VDS team had completed its detailed work and produced a consultation draft which was considered in April 2016 by the Ryedale District Council Planning Committee, before it then went out to public consultation.
MORE on how the Local Plan affects Slingsby.
BACKGROUND
After an extended pause for reflection, the Village Design Statement team had reconvened on 22 October 2014, in order to start the process of writing up the Statement, based in part on the results of the questionnaires sent out in 2011 to all residents.
Margaret Mackinder commented on 22 October 2014:
“I don’t think much has changed [since late 2011] apart from the fact that the Council has now had its Core Development Strategy accepted by Central Government inspectors and it has been formally adopted. It is now currently assessing sites put forward for consideration in the Service Villages of which Slingsby is one, so hopefully we shall know more in a few months time about where they will build. Free market housing is now more or less limited to the Market Towns and the Service villages. Some other villages might get some affordable houses on special exception sites where there is proven need”.
For more background, see below.
As a result of the 2010 Slingsby Parish Plan, a group was formed to develop a Village Design Statement to give guidance to anyone doing new or alteration work in the village, such as extending or creating new buildings, building garden structures such as boundary walls, or planting or felling of trees. To develop the guidance the group needed to gather the opinions of the village community.
There are already a number of things which influence what is built in the village. Most influential is Ryedale District Council’s Local Plan, ( The Local Development Framework) which is put together after long public consultation, and covers matters which influence the type of development and where it can take place. It also lays down like the position of the village boundary and the extent of the conservation area. It also protects some, but not all open spaces. The County Council controls how the roads and footpaths are designed.
The Village Design Statement cannot change what is already in the Local Plan, but is intended to be used in addition to it and is something which the planners would expect developers to take notice of, because it is put forward by local people. It can influence future changes in the village positively, and is therefore worth doing. Its aim is to talk about things which are specific to Slingsby which the wider plans do not cover, and to explain what gives the village its particular character. It highlights the things which the village community values and wants protected, such as important buildings and features, views, single or groups of trees, open spaces etc. It gives details about the type of materials used and architectural features like window design that is considered to fit in with the particular character of Slingsby. It main objective is to make sure that any changes fit in well or are an improvement. It can also contain a wish list of improvements that local people would like to see.
The working group sent out a simple questionnaire to all households in the village. In order to get everyone thinking about this and looking at where we live with fresh eyes, a guided walk around the village took place on Saturday 17th September 2011, led by Dr. Kate Giles, Director of Studies at the Department of Archaeology, University of York, Margaret Mackinder, a local architect and John Clayton , Ryedale District Council’s Tree and Landscape officer, all of whom are Slingsby residents.
For more info, contact Margaret Mackinder.