A NEIGHBOURHOOD plan for Broadstone is due to go out to public consultation later this year.

Nearly five years after the Broadstone Neighbourhood Forum was set up, the final version of the draft plan has been submitted.

The document, which was discussed at a meeting of the place overview and scrutiny committee, is due to go out to consultation mid-November. The process will take six weeks.

The plan will guide future development in the Broadstone area. It contains ten policies, which will support and deliver the ‘vision’ for Broadstone: to make the area a “sustainable and attractive neighbourhood where residents of all ages feel welcome and safe”.

It also sets out an aspiration to create a second planning document - a 'masterplan' - for transforming the centre of 'the village.'

Four concept options for the redesign of The Broadway were proposed. The final concept featured substantially increased pedestrian spaces and traffic calming points. However, the loss of car parking that would result from this concept was strongly opposed by many residents and some businesses.

Several other options, including the conversion of the Station Approach car park into a multi-storey facility, have since gained more support.

Broadstone ward councillor Mike Brook, chair of the Broadstone Forum, wrote on the forum’s website: “After four and a half years of evidence collecting, numerous consultations and even more revisions, the final version of the Draft neighbourhood plan is finished at last.

“Immediately following the consultation, the draft plan will be submitted to a government inspector for examination.

“Attention has focused primarily upon our open spaces and housing issues, which between them account for eight of the ten policies which make up the heart of the plan.

“One policy, BP10 Protecting Community Facilities in Broadstone, is critical in the overall scheme. Its purpose is to prevent the loss of Broadstone’s wide range of community leisure and sporting facilities as a consequence of future development. The plan recognises the important role these facilities play in the lives of Broadstone’s residents, and hence the contribution they make to the health and wellbeing of individuals as well as the community in general.”

If adopted, the community-led neighbourhood plan will form part of the statutory development plan for the area and be taken into account when all planning-related decisions are made, especially the consideration of planning applications.