The Neighbourhood Plan for Oundle will reflect the desires of the community to ensure that facilities and services are provided as part of any additional housing development.

In order to provide a structure which meet the needs of a growing population, safeguard our environment and build our local economy; the Plan must be flexible, adaptable and above all sustainable in order to ensure the future wellbeing of our community.

For many years planning has been seen as a distant activity, with little local influence and everything determined at District level. As a result we have had lots of house building, a population of around 5,000 people, but limited retail space and still no leisure centre. The Localism Act 2011 changes all of this by giving us, the residents of Oundle, the chance to develop a Neighbourhood Plan.

Although some development will be necessary in the town to meet demands for housing, the Neighbourhood Plan should allow us to consider all proposals thoroughly and decide which make best sense overall. It also gives us the chance to solve the long standing lack of infrastructure and to actually get it built in a reasonable time frame rather than it being a promise far into the future.

We have been lucky enough to be awarded a "Front Runners" grant from the Government which will provide the money necessary to develop the Neighbourhood Plan and to pay for the local referendum required to ensure the community agrees with the final content of the plan.

As a Town Council we have prepared the ground for the plan, but the most important part is for you, the residents of Oundle to put forward your views, ideas, and priorities for the future of the town. This is your chance to make a real difference so we implore you to take it.

Roger Sturman
Head of Neighbourhood Planning – Oundle Town Council

The following pages provide further information about what the Neighbourhood Plan is, why it is important, what it will look at, and how it will be created: