Parish Planning Guidance

The long awaited Hurst Parish Design Statement has been renamed, and is now in second draft form. People have the opportunity to read it and make further comments before it is submitted to Wokingham District Council later this year.

With so much development proposed in the parish at the present time, and the likelihood of more in future, it is more important than ever to create a document that will provide planning guidance about the landscape and street scenes in the village.

The first draft was published a year ago, and attracted comments from residents and several organisations including utility companies and the Ramblers Association.

Building design

As the second draft was being prepared the working group learned that the kind of parish design statement they had been working on had been superseded by a requirement for a different kind of document - one which would focus more on details of building design.

One thing the work over the past two years has made clear is that what makes Hurst special, and what many residents think is worth fighting for, is more than just the design and detail of its buildings (important though they are). It is also the way they are set in the village itself and in the more open rural areas around it, together with the roads that connect and serve them.

Blueprint

The working group decided to continue with their work to produce a more complete blueprint for Hurst to give developers and planners guidance on what may be acceptable.

Comments on the second draft of what is now called Parish Planning Guidance should be sent to members of the working group by Saturday 26 October.

Copies of the Parish Planning Guidance are available at the Post Office, from parish councillors, here on the Hurst Village Society website and from members of the working group.