The community’s revised Village Design Statement (VDS) was considered by the South Downs National Park Authority in August.
Village Design Statements describe the character of the landscape and built environment and include guidelines to help ensure that this character is conserved and enhanced. They can be adopted as are Supplementary Planning Documents which are then taken into account when assessing planning applications.
As the National Park’s report about Buriton's work explains, the Parish Council has been actively involved in community led planning since 1998 and is considered to be a front-runner in the south-east of England.
Buriton’s first VDS was published in 2000 and was updated, as part of the Parish Plan, in 2008. The most recent review and update was started in 2015.
The National Park Authority noted all the consultation and events which had been held to help inform the latest version of the VDS and supported new additions to the document such as the importance of tranquillity and dark night skies.
Whilst communities can prepare the material required for SPDs, the administrative process must be led by the Local Planning Authority. The SDNPA had, therefore, organised the period of public consultation and had received a number of representations, all of which supported the proposed guidelines.
The SDNPA considered the new VDS and adopted it all as a formal Supplementary Planning Document with a number of the members of their Committee praising the community of Buriton for their hard work and innovative ideas.
