Faversham Creek Neighbourhood Plan

The production of Neighbourhood Plans is enabled through the Localism Act 2011.The Government encouraged the development of a number of neighbourhood plans ahead of the enactment of legislation through the Neighbourhood Planning Vanguard Scheme and Swale Borough Council was awarded £20k to assist with the development of the Faversham Creek Neighbourhood Plan. Faversham Town Council have taken over the production of this plan.

Neighbourhood plans give communities direct power to plan the areas in which they live but they relate only to the use and development of land in their area.

Parishes and Neighbourhood Forums can use neighbourhood plans to:

develop a shared vision for their neighbourhood
set planning policies for the development and use of land; and
give planning permission through Neighbourhood Development Orders. These can grant planning permission for specified developments in a neighbourhood area, for example, certain types of household extensions, shop fronts, ˜green energy proposals. Where there is a neighbourhood development order in place there would be no need to apply to the Council for planning permission for the development it covers.

For more information please see Faversham Town Council's website.

The Steering Group are holding a public exhibition on Saturday 5th May from 9.30 am - 4 pm at the Gatefield Hall, The Alexander Centre, Preston Street, Faversham. The exhibition will be showing emerging ideas from the Neighbourhood Plan process to date.

Landowners have also been asked to attend the exhibition to display their plans and ideas for their sites.

Public exhibition material

The files below show the information displayed by the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group at the public exhibition on Saturday 5 May. The Steering Group invite your comments on this information by 2 June 2012, email them to Councillor Nigel Kay or by post to: Faversham Town Council, The Alexander Centre, Preston Street, Faversham ME13 8NY.

Map showing Neighbourhood Plan area

Comment Form

Overview of past work on Faversham Creek by Swale Borough Council

Swale Borough Council, together with the support of Kent County Council and the Faversham Municipal Charities, have started the production of an Area Action Plan (AAP) Development Plan Document (DPD) for Faversham Creekside.

What will be decided by the Area Action Plan?

Area Action Plans are the (new) way by which local authorities establish proposals for areas in need of comprehensive regeneration. Once adopted, the Area Action Plan for Faversham Creek will act as material consideration when Swale Borough Council has to decide over planning applications and public investments. The Area Action Plan will help guiding early wins and long term development along the Creek and consider issues such as access, housing, transport, open spaces and parks, shopping, schools and health facilities as well as flooding and conservation matters.

The plan will bring together physical, economic and social agendas into an integrated approach to making the place work better. The period to be covered by the DPD will be 2006-2026.

What has happened so far?

Adoption of Swale Borough's Local Plan, which identifies a requirement for an Area Action Plan for Faversham Creek (one out of nine in the Borough)
Appointment of 'Urban Initiatives' to provide support for consultation activities
On-site Surgery' sessions for meetings with the creek side landowners and development interests.
A two-day workshop took place on 13/14th June, with invitees comprising members of the Faversham Creek Consortium, the Town Council, a wide range of interest groups from across the town and Council Officers. As part of this workshop event the creek team walked the creek side and took part in a 'Place check' exercise - a means of assessing the qualities of the area, deciding what improvements are needed, and focusing the Creek Team on working together to achieve them. This exercise enabled the Creek Team to start prioritising issues, focus on the constraints and opportunities of the site and identify strategic objectives for Faversham Creekside.
This was followed up by themed discussions on issues and options in the context of the Creek e.g. movement, tourism, open space, environmental issues and public realm. Further discussions included working with the identified opportunities and strategic objectives to identify elements to be reflected in a vision statement for the future of Faversham Creek.
Creek Safari: Davington Primary School children went on a Creek Safari around the creek looking at issues with the creek as it is and then they produced postcards detailing how they would like to see the creek in 10 years time. These postcards will be on display at the public exhibitions.

You can view the details of the issues arising out of the consultation.

Who is the Creek Team?

Swale Borough Council invited a wide range of community organisations, landowners and stakeholders to play a particularly active part in contributing to the Area Action Plan. The aim is to involve local organisations within Faversham Creekside area and to establish a good representative spread of interests, ages and occupations. The groups invited included residents groups, those working with the young and old, transport and amenity interests and local businesses and traders.

What is the role of the Creek Team?

To provide local knowledge and expertise
To act as a sounding board for emerging ideas
To be a voice for community interests
To produce guidance for regeneration by contributing to the development of the area action plan
To be ambassadors and champions for regeneration principles by hosting meetings with their parent organisations and encouraging neighbours and colleagues to attend the public events.

The latest stage of the DPD process was a Creek Team workshop held on 26th of November 2008. At this workshop the Creek Team discussed and finalised the following aspects of the Area Action Plan:

the Vision
the supporting Themes
initial thoughts on objectives for each of the Themes and a list of priorities.

A report on the November (2009) workshop can be viewed here.

A final Stakeholder and Consultation Report has now been published and can be viewed below. Files are in pdf file format.

Comments can be made via email to: Natalie Earl, (natalieearl@swale.gov.uk) and these comments will assist the Council when it begins the next stage of the DPD process.

Preparation by Swale Borough Council of an Area Action Plan Development Plan Document for Faversham Creek

Consultation in respect of a report by Tony Fullwood Associates entitled:

'Developing proposals and future planning policy options to deliver regeneration of the Creek area.'

In May 2010 an independent consultant, Tony Fullwood, was appointed to take the work forward to:

Undertake feasibility and viability work building on the earlier Urban Initiatives Report;
Advise on development options for the Creek Area; and
To provide advice on the most appropriate planning route to achieve the regeneration objectives for the Creek Area

This report was published in November 2010 and some comments on its contents have been received by the Council. The document is now being put out for a final consultation period. This will be the last chance for people to comment on the plans for Faversham Creek before a formal publication stage later this year. Consultation closed on the 24 June 2011.

The development plan document is now available to view.

A printed copy has been placed at the Faversham District Office, the Alexander Centre, Preston Street and at Faversham Library, Newton Road.

Please send comments to Planning Policy, Swale House, East Street, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME10 3HT or contact the Planning Team.

This consultation forms part of Regulation 25 of The Town and Country Planning (Local Development) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2008.

More Information

Faversham Creek Consortium

This page provides information on initiatives related to the Faversham Creek Consortium.