Copies of the Taplow Parish Plan are now with the parish, district and county councils, the government of the South East, the constituency MP Dominic Grieve, and several environmental and community organisations.
The current status is that the Taplow Parish Plan has been adopted by Taplow Parish Council. It has received favourable reaction from the District and County Councils and has been commended as a model for other parish plans in the area. However, the Parish Council still awaits a formal response from South Bucks District Council.
Although, unfortunately, parish plans do not form part of the statutory process, it is clear that it is the intention of government that they should form an integral element in reaching decisions on development matters and service provision as they affect the parish or town in question.
Taplow Parish Council has overall responsibility for the preparation, implementation, monitoring, updating and financing of its Parish Plan. In order to proceed with the detailed implementation and progress of the plan, the Parish Council has set up mechanisms to ensure effective implementation. It is in the process of appointing a Standing Community Forum, which will consist of representatives from interested groups in Taplow and the Parish Council. Hitcham and Taplow Preservation Society was invited to nominate two representatives. Anne Hanford and Eva Lipman were consequently nominated by the society committee.
An Implementation and Monitoring Group will be set up in due course to carry out executive actions. In the meantime, an Interim Implementation and Monitoring Group is already active in pursuing immediate issues. These have included the three major consultations with South Bucks District Council, i.e. Statement of Community Involvement, Core Strategy Issues and Options, and the Review of the Taplow Conservation Area. The submitted statement on the Statement of Community Involvement disagrees with the method of consultation; the response to the Core Strategy Issues and Options expresses the Taplow Parish Plan priorities, which, it is hoped, will be included in the Local Development Framework.
The Interim Implementation and Monitoring Group has also had two constructive meetings, firstly with South Bucks District Council Planning Policy representatives and secondly with representatives of Bucks County Council and Chiltern and South Bucks Transportation Area. These meetings provided the opportunity to raise key issues contained in the Parish Plan.
The Interim Implementation Group is being chaired by Professor Bernard Trevallion. He is anxious to ensure that further work on the Parish Plan is representative of the wishes of the Taplow community. He would be pleased to provide further information on the Parish Plan and its future development.
(Contact details:
trevallion@btopenworld.com
Tel. 01628 523887.)
Anne Hanford
