April 2021

 

The Ware Neighbourhood Plan seeks to address, as far as possible, the community challenges highlighted by our initial Ware Neighbourhood Plan Public Consultation held in March and April 2020. In summary, these challenges are:

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• Meeting the demands of an ageing population, to ensure that housing, services and facilities are accessible, and better suited to their needs;

• Encouraging younger people and families to move to the town;

• Managing the integration of the proposed residential and mixed-use development on the land that is located immediately to the north and east of the town (also known as Ware2);

• Supporting the ongoing viability and vitality of Ware town centre;

• Supporting existing employment within the town, including opportunities for those wishing to work from home or who need to work more flexibly;

• Safeguarding Ware’s green spaces and wider natural setting, including the areas around the River Lea;

• Conserving Ware’s historic assets, character and identity;

• Seeking to improve accessibility within Ware – through the improvement of existing (and where possible, the provision of new) footpaths, cycle paths and public transport – in order to reduce our over-reliance on car use;

• Encouraging high quality development within Ware, to help mitigate climate change.

 

In consultation with numerous members of Ware’s community, we have developed a Vision for Ware up to 2033. This states that

 

Ware should be kept as an identifiable attractive town, which enjoys the peace associated with being part of the countryside, while still contributing to the wider geographical community. The character of Ware must be maintained in order that it remains an attractive place in which to live, work and visit…

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The Objectives of our Neighbourhood Plan are to ensure that Ware is:

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Objective 1: a thriving modern market town, which values its heritage;

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Objective 2: an attractive place to live;

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Objective 3: a place where people can work in rewarding jobs supporting a vibrant economy;

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Objective 4: a caring community, supporting residents of all ages and social groups through health education, employment, and enjoyment of cultural and leisure facilities;

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Objective 5: an attractive Town centre which retains its human scale, and where people want to access services, meet and shop; and

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Objective 6: a place that fosters mobility and healthy living, with a sustainable transport network for walkers, cyclists and those who depend upon public transport.

 

The Ware Neighbourhood Plan will include a number of Policies and Actions to address the Objectives outlined above.

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Each proposed Neighbourhood Plan Policy will be backed by supporting evidence and explanatory text to clarify why the Policy is required, what it is seeking to achieve, and how it may be used to assess and inform future planning applications and planning policies within Ware.

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The Ware Neighbourhood Plan steering group is actively working with specialist planning consultants to collate all required Policy evidence, to ensure that our proposed Neighbourhood Plan Policies are robust.

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We are aiming to have all of the Neighbourhood Plan Policies and supporting evidence justification ready in a draft format by late summer 2021, so that we can share this information with the Ware community, and hopefully gain further local input and feedback.

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We are currently seeking advice on how we can best undertake this consultation process, especially with regard to meeting the public heath requirements likely to be in place.