21st May 2024
On Tuesday 14th May, Thame Town Council unanimously approved the revised Thame Neighbourhood Plan (TNP2) as ready for submission to South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) for one last round of consultation and independent examination.
The award-winning Thame Neighbourhood Plan was created by the community to ensure that Thame preserves its character and market town feel. The new Plan will ensure the town retains its close relationship with the open countryside, maintains markets, festivals, and events; continues to act as a centre for surrounding areas, and remains attractive to residents, businesses, and visitors alike.
The Road to Referendum
The Plan That Thame Built
When local communities were given legal powers to develop Neighbourhood Plans, Thame was one of the first towns in the country to embrace the initiative. The people of Thame recognised that without such a plan, Thame could look very different.
The Thame Neighbourhood Plan was developed by the community for the community, who decided its main aim should be to make sure that Thame maintains its character as a real market town. Thame Town Council's role was to facilitate community involvement, collate feedback, deal with legalities, and prepare the documentation in readiness for consultation and examination.
In 2021, after the first consultation for the new Neighbourhood Plan, it was found that the residents and businesses of Thame wanted the Plan to keep the same effective clear vision and objectives. 500 sets of comments were made by the public. After a further two consultations and an additional 1,100 sets of comments later, the Submission Plan was presented to Thame's Full Council.
What's in the Plan?
While the first Thame Neighbourhood Plan mostly focused on guiding development for new parts of the town, TNP2 also encourages positive change within established areas. It will work to keep parking spaces in the Town Centre, propose a site for a budget supermarket, along with a new community centre, wellbeing facilities, and more.
The Thame Neighbourhood Plan (TNP2) includes provisions for Thame's future housing and employment needs, new open spaces, walking and cycling routes, the future of the Cattle Market and Town Centre parking, and environmental initiatives. To prepare for the development away from the main housing and employment sites, it includes design codes and policies for Thame that will help shape development in existing areas to ensure the town retains its character for future generations.
For example, the Plan will ensure that the views from Oxford Road into the countryside at Rycote Meadow will be preserved, and walkways will be established or improved providing better links to the Town Centre.
A Vision for Thame
The vision for Thame has been developed into a set of six objectives which will inform the preferred directions of future growth. These propose that:
- The compactness and walkability of Thame should be retained, with new homes built within comfortable travel distance, by foot and by bike, from the town centre and other social and community facilities located around the town,
- The sensitive environment around Thame should be respected, with areas of new growth avoiding areas of nature conservation and flood risk,
- Growth should avoid impacting on the landscape setting of Thame, retaining proximity to the surrounding countryside,
- The separate identity of Thame and outlying villages, including Moreton, to the south, and Towersey, to the east, should be retained,
- New development should be well integrated with the existing built form, contributing to the achievement of integrated communities, and
- New development should respect the historic growth and evolution of Thame.
If it is approved to go to referendum and ultimately gets the go-ahead, Thame's Neighbourhood Plan will become part of the development plan of South Oxfordshire and will be used to help guide and determine future planning applications.
What Next?
The Thame Neighbourhood Plan is now in the hands of South Oxfordshire District Council, which will hold the Plan's fourth consultation in early summer 2024. An independent examiner will then be appointed to review the Plan and any comments made in response to it. The independent examiner will judge the Neighbourhood Plan against a set of criteria to ensure it meets certain requirements, including:
- That the Plan has been written with regard to National Planning Policy and guidance,
- That it does not undermine the strategic policies of the District Council’s Local Plan,
- That it has given special regard to historic assets, like our listed buildings and conservation area,
- That it contributes to the achievement of sustainable development, and
- That it meets human rights requirements and also meets EU obligations relating to the protection of the environment, habitats and species.
Following this, the examiner will issue a report advising if the plan can proceed to referendum. If so, South Oxfordshire District Council will organise the referendum and those registered to vote in Thame will decide whether the Plan should be brought into force ("made") or not. If more than 50% of all people who turn out, vote in favour of making the Plan, then it will become part of the suite of planning policies used by the District Council to help shape and determine planning applications in Thame.
