Residents of Weston under Penyard parish go to the polls on Thursday, February 4th to vote on whether to accept their Neighbourhood Plan; the village is the very first of 95 Herefordshire parishes to do so.

The plan has been prepared over the last two years by the Parish Council’s Steering Group, together with the whole community. After a lot of hard work, it is now the first in the county ready to be adopted by Herefordshire Council as one of the documents that make up the statutory planning framework which will be used to guide and control development in Weston under Penyard over the next 15 years.

But first parish residents must formally vote to accept the plan. To do this they must go and cast their vote in favour of the plan at the parish polling station – the Penyard Gardens Common Room on Thursday, February 4th.

When they cast their vote they will be asked just one question: “Do you want Hereford Council to use the neighbourhood plan for Weston under Penyard to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?”

If the plan gets a ‘yes’ vote then it will: Protect the parish from uncontrolled, large scale or poorly placed development, Provide the development required by Herefordshire Council’s Core Strategy at the locations preferred by the community, Ensure that development is compatible with and improves the look and feel of the village, and give local residents preferred access to affordable homes.

A ‘no’ vote would leave the parish without the vital protection of the Neighbourhood Plan against uncontrolled development, something that the Parish Council and the Steering Group want to avoid at all costs.

Susan Lewis, Parish Council Chairman told the Ross Gazette: “It is crucial that the people of our community turn out and vote for our Neighbourhood Plan on February 4th so that the parish can enjoy the maximum protection against uncontrolled development in the future. The Parish Council is grateful to our Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group for having done such a sterling job in producing a really good plan that fulfils all legal requirements and has had the support of our community during its preparation. It is an amazing success for the Steering Group to be the first in Herefordshire to get to referendum stage and we are very proud of that achievement. I would urge our residents to come out and show support for that super achievement by voting yes for our plan on February 4th.”