News & Events
Neighbourhood Plan Update
October 2025
Over the summer we have engaged Locality, the government funded organisation that supports local community organisations. Their partner AECOM has reviewed our Vision, Objectives and draft policies to advise on whether they are supported by the evidence that has been assembled through the residents’ events, surveys and reports that have been run or commissioned over the course of the Neighbourhood Plan process. We will be holding further discussions with them over the next 2 weeks.
We have also been speaking with our Local Planning Authority, Somerset Council (formerly Mendip) seeking feedback from their experts on the potential housing sites that have been identified and any particular challenges involved, for example in areas such as highways, environment and infrastructure. Somerset Council is conducting its own assessment of the housing requirement across the County out to 2040 and where it should go. You may recall at the end of last year we received an indicative figure of 95 homes. This remains our planning figure but is yet to be confirmed.
We have also sought confirmation of other steps that the LPA might require once we have a draft plan ready for consultation. This may include a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) on the sites that we propose. The LPA has indicated that it will be able to decide this when it has sight of the draft plan.
We have had some really high quality work come in on Local Green Space, Views and Landscape character that will inform the draft plan. We are in the process of clarifying a number of details but will publish these documents when they are finalised. To that end, our website has been updated with a new section – Document Library – that will form the evidence base for our draft plan. It has already been populated with some key documents, including our surveys and the Call for Sites report.
As you may know, the Cotswold Homes and Tower Hill applications were both refused over the summer. There is an outline application in for the site next to BP/Starbucks (2025 0276/OUT Land at Great Dunns Beckington). It is not on the agenda for the next Somerset Council meeting (4 November) but could be discussed in December. This, of course, is Parish Council business but we are able to assist with their input to the LPA drawing on our survey results and published reports.
The Steering Group remains determined to provide a draft plan for public consultation under the process known as ‘Regulation 14’ as soon as possible. Residents and stakeholders will all have the opportunity to comment over a 6-week consultation period. At the end of that period, the draft plan will be adjusted, and it will be for the LPA to decide whether it is ready to be put to residents in a referendum. It is our intention to have the draft plan ready for consultation by the end of this calendar year.
Housing Sites Survey
Results
The survey opened on Friday 21 March and closed on Friday 2 May. Surveys were delivered to all 557 households across the parish. Five options were presented, to be ranked in order of preference. 159 surveys were submitted, representing a 29% response rate.
Of the total of 159 total responses, 142 were valid:
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8 responses were ruled out due to having multiple sites assigned the same ranking.
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7 responses declined to rank any sites stating that they did not agree with the number of sites selected.
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1 response included comment only due to the survey being lost by the respondent.
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1 response was incomplete with only pages 2 and 3 submitted.
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All comments received have been registered for inclusion in the background evidence to accompany the draft Plan when it is submitted.
The number of times each option was ranked in each category is shown in this table.
The methodology used to get an overall ranking was to assign weights of 5,4,3,2,1 to the first, second, third, fourth and fifth ranked choices respectively. The overall result is shown in this table.
Option C had the most first and second place rankings.
Option A had the most fifth place rankings.
Options B and D were similar for first and second place rankings, but B scored better for third place rankings.
What Happens Next ?
We will now be writing to the Local Planning Authority (Somerset Council) informing them of the outcome of the Call for Sites exercise and the survey. We will be asking for comment from their planning officers on any Heritage, Landscape and Environmental matters that they consider to be relevant.
Site Preferences Consultation
[update, 27 March 2025]
By now, every household should have received a housing survey in which we are asking you to indicate a preference for where you think any future housing might go in Beckington. We have allowed six weeks for this consultation period – the deadline is Friday 2 May to get your completed surveys to one of the collection boxes (Mes Amis, Beckington Motors, The Full Moon at Rudge, The Bell at Standerwick or The Woolpack).
The map on the left shows the 5 sites under consideration.
If you haven't received a survey please contact us at npsgbeckington@gmail.com or message Ben Richards on 07564 115515.
Site Preferences Consultation
[update, 19 March 2025]
We have now received the Housing Site Survey from the printers and will be delivering them by hand to each household over the next few days. There are over 500 to deliver so it will not be achieved in one day. There are five sites to consider with accompanying notes to assist you when making your choices.
The deadline for responses is Friday 2 May 2025, allowing for the recommended six-week period. Information on how to submit the Response Forms is included in the Survey.
The Housing Background Paper will appear here shortly to provide residents with additional information on housing issues related to the Neighbourhood Plan.
Site Preferences Consultation
[update, 19 March 2025]
We have now received the Housing Site Survey from the printers and will be delivering them by hand to each household over the next few days. There are over 500 to deliver so it will not be achieved in one day. There are five sites to consider with accompanying notes to assist you when making your choices.
The deadline for responses is Friday 2 May 2025, allowing for the recommended six-week period. Information on how to submit the Response Forms is included in the Survey.
The Housing Background Paper will appear here shortly to provide residents with additional information on housing issues related to the Neighbourhood Plan.
Site Preferences Consultation
On 11 February, we published 13 site assessments from our independent housing consultant. Based on their advice, there is now a shortlist of 5 potential sites to be put to residents in a public consultation. We had originally intended to launch this consultation on 10 March. There has been a slight delay as we finalise the details, and it is now intended that the consultation will begin next week (by 19 March). Each household will receive a questionnaire so that you can have your say on how any future housing target might be achieved.
We will also be publishing a Housing Background Paper on our website that will provide residents with information on housing issues related to the Neighbourhood Plan.
Neighbourhood Plan Consultation
Monday 17 February 2025
7.30 – 9.30 pm
Beckington Village Hall
The consultation event originally planned for the end of January will now take place on Monday 17 February. Based on your feedback and external consultancy work, we will present our draft Vision and Objectives of the Neighbourhood Plan and will invite your input.
Our consultant will also be there to discuss the matter of housing (call for sites, site assessments, preferred sites consultation etc) as part of the Neighbourhood Plan process: what we’ve done, where we are and the next steps.
Please come along and tell us what you think.
Call for Sites Exercise
As part of the Neighbourhood Plan process, a Call for Sites exercise has been conducted by independent planning consultants Brodie Planning Associates to identify and assess sites for potential development if required. Assessments for 13 sites were provided to the NPSG on 24 January 2025 and were formally adopted by the Steering Group at its meeting on 10 February 2025.
You can read the assessments by clicking the button below.
Public Meeting - Vision and Objectives
We had intended to hold a public meeting on 30 January to present the draft Vision and Objectives of the Neighbourhood Plan, derived from feedback received at events and from our survey last year.
For a number of reasons, this needs to be postponed and we will now run the event in mid-February.
As soon as we have a confirmed date, we will let everyone know.
Please don't confuse this message with another public meeting taking place on 3 February to discuss the planning application at the Tower Hill site. This is being run by the Parish Council and will be going ahead.
An Update from Beckington Parish Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group
Survey Results
Please use the link below to view the results of the Neighbourhood Plan Survey
Proposal for 20 new houses on land East of Great Dunns Close
Some residents in Beckington have received a flyer from Cotswold Homes, which has announced plans to develop land East of Great Dunns Close (previously known as Redrow 2).
They are conducting local feedback on the proposal before they submit a formal planning application to Somerset Council. More details are available on their website https://ch-beckington.co.uk/
The proposal is for 20 homes, with a mix of 1, 2, 3 and 4-bed house-sizes, including 6 affordable homes.
The flyer and their website provide details of how they intend to address drainage issues that caused a previous application by Redrow to be refused. It is well-known that Beckington’s sewage system is under pressure and is the source of significant problems.
Comments can be submitted via the website or by email to
What the flyer does not say is that the deadline for feedback is Wednesday 3 July.
This will not be the only opportunity to comment. If a formal planning application is submitted in July, there will be a formal consultation period ahead of any determination by Somerset Council.
Survey Launch Event - 14 Mar 24
The Steering Group hosted a Survey Launch event in the Beckington Memorial Hall on 14 Mar 24. This was an opportunity to invite all the parishioners to find out more about the Neighbourhood Plan, meeting the Steering Group members and share opinions and ideas about what the plan should contain. The event was very successful with a high number of parishioners attending.
The Steering Group also confirmed the launch of the Neighbourhood Plan Survey. This survey contains a question set that allows the parishioners to voice their opinions. It will available on the homepage until 6th April 2024.
We encourage as many as possible to complete this survey as this is your plan! We want your opinions on what you would like for the future in our Parish.
