West Northamptonshire Local Plan - Responses to Regulation 18 - Message from Barby & Onley Parish Council
If you do not want to see at least 58 new homes being built around Barby over the next 15 years and you would like to see greater protection being given to the Rainsbrook Valley to prevent our surrounding Countryside from being developed, please respond to West Northamptonshire Council’s Local Plan consultation (www.westnorthants.gov.uk/local-plan)
You will need to complete the form and email it, by 27th March, to [email protected]
https://cms.westnorthants.gov.uk/media/28146/download
You may also like to mention that you would like to see Barby Lane, the main arterial route, in and out of Barby, being refurbished as a matter or urgency.
Residents may wish to include some of the following points in their objection
Object to Policy R2 – 58 new Homes to be built in Barby as part of the Rural Housing Allocation
• The allocation would need to be built outside the village boundary, destroying some of the countryside that surrounds the village. This is contrary to the Spatial Policy S1 ‘to protect the distinctive character & quality of rural settlements’
• The number of 58 new homes in Barby comes from a nonsensical calculation which unfairly includes a % of all the houses in Onley as well as Barby and surrounding areas.
• Barby should not be given an additional housing allocation by West Northants Council as there is already a housing allocation within our own Neighbourhood Plan (NDP) which was only made last year. This NDP housing allocation is currently going through planning application.
• There are numerous alternative brownfield & urban sites available within West Northamptonshire for building new homes rather than ruining the character and setting of Barby.
• It is undemocratic that residents had not been consulted previously on this imposed housing allocation.
Greater Protection for the Rainsbrook Valley needs to be included in West Northants Local Plan
• Rugby Borough Council are proposing to provide protection to most of the Warwickshire section of the Rainsbrook Valley within their Local Plan (in their policy EN3).
• West Northants Council should provide the same protection for the part of the Valley that falls within Northamptonshire.
• West Northants landscape policy BN5 is not sufficient in providing adequate protection for the Valley and as, like Rugby have done, West Northants should include a dedicated policy to categorise the Rainsbrook Valley as a Landscape of Elevated Sensitivity
• Rugby’s landscape report (undertaken by a Company called Node) concluded that the Valley ‘should be understood and evaluated as a coherent landscape system’. Hence there should be a common understanding and designation of the Valley as a ‘Landscape of Elevated Sensitivity’ in its’ entirety irrespective of County boundary
The complete refurbishment of Barby Lane, Barby needs to be included in Section 14.6 as part of West Northants ‘Future Transport Solutions’ with their Local Plan
• Barby Lane, the main northern arterial road in and out of Barby, is totally unfit for purpose and needs to be totally refurbished.
• The road was originally designed to handle only very light residential traffic and not the capacity of traffic that has been using it now for many years
West Northamptonshire Local Plan
West Northants Council (WNC) are seeking the views of residents in shaping the Local Plan for West Northamptonshire.
The Local Plan is a key document setting out the future of development across West Northamptonshire up to 2043. It sets out how land will be used for housing, employment, green spaces, and infrastructure.
Details of the draft plan & how to comment upon it can be found
New Local Plan for West Northamptonshire | West Northamptonshire Council
The draft plan includes a ‘Rural Housing Requirement’ and for Barby there is an additional requirement for a minium of 58 houses being provided up to the end of the plan in 2043. If this happens it will inevitably extend the village into the surrounding Countryside. The Parish Council will be objecting to this allocation as it is not clear how this figure has been determined nor does it take our own Neighbourhood development plan into account.
Rugby Council are proposing to designate the Warwickshire section of the Rainsbrook Valley as a ‘landscape of elevated sensitivity’ which will help protect the beauty of the area from development. Your Parish Council are asking WNC to include, within their new local plan, the same protection to the Northamptonshire section of the Rainsbrook Valley.
The Parish Council encourages all residents to take part in WNC’s consultation over its’ local plan which runs until 27th March 2026.
This is everyone’s opportunity to have their say on whether or not they would like to see more houses being built in Barby and to press for changes regarding the status of the Rainsbrook Valley.
Barby & Onley Parish Council
Parish Council News
West Northants Planning Application - 2024/0993/FULL Toft Hill 19 Rugby Road Barby CV23 8UB - Approved by West Northants Council on 4th September 2024
Due to concerns that the Parish Council had with West Northants Council's (WNC) decision to grant planning permission at Toft Hill, Barby (2024/0993/FULL) legal advice was sought. Our legal advisors identified grounds that would support a Judicial Review and asked West Northants Council to consent to judgment in a formal letter before action. Even though WNC agreed that they had made mistakes with regard to their procedures and that they had interpreted planning policy incorrectly, they would not concede to judgement. Consequently, the only option available to the Parish Council was to take court action against them which was considered to be too great a burden upon the Parish's financial resources.
Posted 22nd October 2024
Barby Flag
The Flag is a combination of two of the flag designs submitted by residents of the village.
The main device of the flag, the upwards pointing chevron, is a representation of Barby Hill. The name of Barby village comes from the old norse word “Bergbýr”, meaning “hill dwelling”, so it only seems appropriate that the hill should be prominently featured on the flag as it is the village’s namesake.
Within the chevron are 5 diamonds used as a subtle reference to Barby being the birthplace of the Maclaren pushchair company. The Maclaren logo is 5 diamonds in the shape of an M, but in the flag they have instead been rearranged to fit inside the symbolic hill.
Above the chevron is a bar and below is a bee – a play on the village name.
The choice of colouration for the flag, red background, blue central device and additional detailing in gold was chosen to match the colouration of the coat of arms belonging to Barby’s French twin village Vulaines-sur-Ser
LODGE FARM DEVELOPMENT
Rugby Borough Council (RBC) are considering sites to build around 3,500 new homes, over the next 5 years. One option that may be considered is Lodge Farm again. If this huge development went ahead it would mean over 2,500 new homes being built around Onley Village and on the other side of the A45. This would significantly impact on our road system especially through Dunchurch village and would ruin our Countryside forever.
RBC are consulting on their proposals until 19th May 2025. You can send an objection against the Lodge Farm Development directly to RBC using [email protected] or come along to one of our drop in sessions to sign one of our objection template letters (there are several to choose from).
Drop in sessions are being held in Onley Village Hall on Sunday 27th April 3.30-5.30 and in Barby Village Hall on Monday 28th April from 5:30 to 7:30
For more information please contact [email protected] or [email protected]
Rugby Borough Local Plan Review Preferred Option Consultation
The consultation started on 24 March and runs until 19 May. Residents are invited to give their views. Rugby Borough Council’s Preferred Option is for a dispersal model of building houses in and around Rugby and large villages to the north rather than a large new settlement. BUT a new, much larger Lodge Farm of over 2,500 houses has been included in the Call for Sites and the Sustainability Appraisal documents so, in the future following the consultation, the Local Plan could potentially have a major impact on the residents of Onley and the surrounding villages. SALFV (Stand Against Lodge Farm), the group that successfully campaigned to have Lodge Farm removed from the Local Plan in 2018, will provide more information soon about their strategy to, once again, have this removed.
The first link is to Rugby Borough Council’s consultation webpage where all the relevant information and documents can be found.
Rugby Borough Consultation webpage
https://www.rugby.gov.uk/pl/local-plan-review-preferred-options-consultation
The document below is the final version of the consultation document.
Preferred Option Consultation Document.
Click here for the document
Although the consultation document above describes Rugby Borough Council’s Preferred Option for reaching their housing and employment targets, they are required to consider alternative strategies as well. The document below outlines 5 ‘scenarios’ (from page 45 onwards) and describes the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Alternative Development Strategies
Click here for the Sustainability and Appraisal report
Paragraphs 5.4.80 and 5.4.81 on page 34 particularly relate to the possible resurrection of Lodge Farm as a new, much larger settlement of over 2,500 houses on both sides of the A45 on the way to Dunchurch. Page 43 provides a map and, as above, the sustainability of the 5 scenarios is assessed from page 45 onwards.
Evidence Base
The call for sites document can be viewed here
The call for sites document lists the development sites eventually selected from the hundreds of potential sites put forward for development by landowners and developers. Lodge Farm is Site 73 and includes documents from St Modwen.
Consultation
There will be a Virtual Q and A consultation event on 10 April from 1.00pm - 2.00pm. Join this event on MS Teams
You can give your views on the Preferred Option via the online questionnaire.
Alternatively, comments may be made:
1. by email to [email protected] with ‘Preferred Option Consultation’ in the subject line, or
2. by post to: Preferred Option Consultation, Development Strategy Team, Town Hall, Evreux Way, Rugby, CV21 2RR
Please include the relevant policy reference with any comments. You must also include your full name and postal address with email and postal comments.
20mph speed signs
The Parish council has obtained some advisory 20mph speed signs to place around the Parish to alert drivers that driving at 30mph may be inappropriate in certain areas.
There are some restrictions on where we can place these signs and we are advised to move them frequently so drivers do not become complacent to them.
If there is a particular pole or post that you consider would be a good place to put a sign (all should have numbers on) then please let our clerk know & we can look to include it in our next round of sign placements. If you are also able to be part of a team responsible for moving & re sighting these signs please also let us know: [email protected]
Posted 2nd January 2025
Important Planning Application
Please click here for an announcement from the Parish Council on an important planning application regarding Cadman Sporting in Barby.
Posted 22nd July 2023