Creating a Neighbourhood Plan is a complex process – simply put it has to propose a balance between the need for growth and the need to protect and maintain what’s special about our village (whilst simultaneously trying to find ways to fix what is broken!).
Following our initial surveys, fact finding and identifying those issues which residents and businesses considered the most important, we’ve spent the last 18 months turning these into actionable policies and initiatives which we believe meet this challenging brief – how to balance the desire to see better community facilities whilst defending our village from the relentless pressure of change.
It’s been a long journey – longer than we’d originally expected. Whilst in some ways obvious the NP has both limited powers in terms of what it can change (it has to align with the 2020 RBC local plan for one) and it is primarily comprised of policy objectives – not explicit actions. This means some things we may want to do – such as improving cycle access between certain parts of the village – have to be framed as an objective because they may take many more years to achieve given highways, land access rights and more.
But whilst the NP has limited powers in some areas, it does provide real benefits for the village. A Neighbourhood Plan, once adopted by the Council , an independent Inspector and a village wide referendum, stands alongside the Councils own Local Plan as the future development brief for our Village. The policies have real weight and will factor into both future RBC local plans and individual planning applications – with a percentage of the Community Infrastructure Levy collected being made available to support the wider NP initiatives.
The responsibility the Forum has towards delivering a meaningfully sustainable document is no light matter. For these reasons we have taken time to seek the best professional advice to guide us in the generation of value added policies that conforms to the constraints of Neighbourhood planning legislation.
This summer we are sharing with the village residents our key policy ideas that the forum feel incorporate all village residents. It’s not possible for us to stop development already passed in Runneymede’s 2020 Local Plan, nor can we determine land within the green belt for development.
What we can do is to enhance and improve our Core retail areas to afford greater benefit for the community and local businesses. We can identify areas of possible development and rejuvenation and raise standards of building and drive developers to adopt Carbon neutral housing standards ahead of other settlements. Speed and volume of traffic is not in our remit but we can address traffic management and encourage walking and cycling from the village environs.
Below you will see eight policy ideas which we would value your feedback upon. There will be a number of opportunities this year for everyone to air their thoughts with a formal promotion of the plan policies this autumn promoted via Runneymede Council and then in Spring next year a Village wide Referendum.
Following our initial surveys, fact finding and identifying those issues which residents and businesses considered the most important, we’ve spent the last 18 months turning these into actionable policies and initiatives which we believe meet this challenging brief – how to balance the desire to see better community facilities whilst defending our village from the relentless pressure of change.
It’s been a long journey – longer than we’d originally expected. Whilst in some ways obvious the NP has both limited powers in terms of what it can change (it has to align with the 2020 RBC local plan for one) and it is primarily comprised of policy objectives – not explicit actions. This means some things we may want to do – such as improving cycle access between certain parts of the village – have to be framed as an objective because they may take many more years to achieve given highways, land access rights and more.
But whilst the NP has limited powers in some areas, it does provide real benefits for the village. A Neighbourhood Plan, once adopted by the Council , an independent Inspector and a village wide referendum, stands alongside the Councils own Local Plan as the future development brief for our Village. The policies have real weight and will factor into both future RBC local plans and individual planning applications – with a percentage of the Community Infrastructure Levy collected being made available to support the wider NP initiatives.
The responsibility the Forum has towards delivering a meaningfully sustainable document is no light matter. For these reasons we have taken time to seek the best professional advice to guide us in the generation of value added policies that conforms to the constraints of Neighbourhood planning legislation.
This summer we are sharing with the village residents our key policy ideas that the forum feel incorporate all village residents. It’s not possible for us to stop development already passed in Runneymede’s 2020 Local Plan, nor can we determine land within the green belt for development.
What we can do is to enhance and improve our Core retail areas to afford greater benefit for the community and local businesses. We can identify areas of possible development and rejuvenation and raise standards of building and drive developers to adopt Carbon neutral housing standards ahead of other settlements. Speed and volume of traffic is not in our remit but we can address traffic management and encourage walking and cycling from the village environs.
Below you will see eight policy ideas which we would value your feedback upon. There will be a number of opportunities this year for everyone to air their thoughts with a formal promotion of the plan policies this autumn promoted via Runneymede Council and then in Spring next year a Village wide Referendum.
Draft Policy VW2 Design Character Areas
We have identified seven character areas across the village as indicated on the map. These will help define how design codes can be implemented and differentiated across the village
Areas A & B - The Wentworth Estate includes the original Tarrant designed layout around the golf course and village. We have distinguished between area of the Estate within the green belt (A) and the land outside the green belt (B).
Area C - St Ann’s and Virginia Park – the private developments close to the village centre, including the Orchard and Sandhills Court.
Area D - Trumps Green – covering Trumps Green Road, and adjacent streets as it winds up the hill towards Longcross, Cabrera Avenue, Crown Road and Harpesford Avenue.
Area E - Crown Estate – The Lake and surrounds which give the village its name, incorporating Callow Hill and the areas North of Wentworth towards Englefield Green.
Area F - Virginia Water Local Centre and Parade – the ‘heart’ of the village which comprises the shops, station, library and Court.
Area G - Stroude Valley – incorporating the ‘ribbon village’ of Stroude, and the area from St Ann’s Heath towards Thorpe Green.
Note: there is a wealth of landscape character information for areas E and G which ideally, could be summarised and included as baseline information in the Design Code.
We have identified seven character areas across the village as indicated on the map. These will help define how design codes can be implemented and differentiated across the village
Areas A & B - The Wentworth Estate includes the original Tarrant designed layout around the golf course and village. We have distinguished between area of the Estate within the green belt (A) and the land outside the green belt (B).
Area C - St Ann’s and Virginia Park – the private developments close to the village centre, including the Orchard and Sandhills Court.
Area D - Trumps Green – covering Trumps Green Road, and adjacent streets as it winds up the hill towards Longcross, Cabrera Avenue, Crown Road and Harpesford Avenue.
Area E - Crown Estate – The Lake and surrounds which give the village its name, incorporating Callow Hill and the areas North of Wentworth towards Englefield Green.
Area F - Virginia Water Local Centre and Parade – the ‘heart’ of the village which comprises the shops, station, library and Court.
Area G - Stroude Valley – incorporating the ‘ribbon village’ of Stroude, and the area from St Ann’s Heath towards Thorpe Green.
Note: there is a wealth of landscape character information for areas E and G which ideally, could be summarised and included as baseline information in the Design Code.
Draft Policy VW4
Local Gaps and Corridors of Significance
While the land to the north of the village is Green Belt, we propose to undertake some further landscape analysis to determine whether it is appropriate to identify local gaps between the settlements of Virginia Water and Englefield Green and Egham to prevent new development from making them merge into each other.
There is also the risk of more ribbon development on the roads leading out of the village to the north.
The policy won’t (and can’t) stop development, but it could prevent coalescence or require that the scale and height of new buildings should be carefully designed.
Local Gaps and Corridors of Significance
While the land to the north of the village is Green Belt, we propose to undertake some further landscape analysis to determine whether it is appropriate to identify local gaps between the settlements of Virginia Water and Englefield Green and Egham to prevent new development from making them merge into each other.
There is also the risk of more ribbon development on the roads leading out of the village to the north.
The policy won’t (and can’t) stop development, but it could prevent coalescence or require that the scale and height of new buildings should be carefully designed.
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Draft Policy VW5
A Thriving Village Centre The village centre is well used by local people, providing convenience shopping and services on the doorstep. With changes to shopping behaviour and COVID, we want to ensure we protect the centre. Our vision is to make it a more attractive and safer destination by slowing traffic on the Christchurch Road, improving crossing points, and closing one of the two road accesses from Christchurch Road into Station Parade to create more green space which better connects the two parades and links the memorial garden with the restaurants and shops to form a piazza for evening dining. We believe this will encourage people to stay longer and for it to become the “Heart of the Village”. |
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Draft Policy VW6
Virginia Water Railway Station We met with Network Rail and South Western Railways in March 2022 and shared out vision for the village centre. We suggested that their station ticket office needed updating, the derelict lock up garages were visually unappealing and by careful replanning of the parking area this could make more efficient use of the site for sustainable commercial buildings; which in turn could generate added value to fund a new ticket office and other improvements. |
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Draft Policy VW8 Encouraging Active and Healthy Travel
We’ve identified a series of important walking and cycling proposals to encourage active and healthy travel and to better connect key facilities such as schools, and to improve the connectivity to the Local Plan allocations at Callow Hill (VW North) and Trumps Green (VW South). A key purpose of the policy is to ensure these development proposals make a contribution to funding the walking and cycling infrastructure necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms. |
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Draft Policy VW9
Managing Traffic As further development takes place throughout the Borough this is placing increasing pressure on our roads. The transport study by PJA has identified a number of ‘key locations’ where public realm improvements and traffic mitigation measures are required to enhance the active travel environment and improve residential amenity and highway safety. As well as tackling HGV construction traffic with Policy VW10, we want to maximise the financial contributions from future developments to improving our public spaces and to install traffic management and safety measures. |
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Draft Policy VW10
Reducing Heavy Goods Vehicles The policy is intended to have influence over the management of construction traffic that will inevitably result as the three strategic allocations move into their development phase. Adoption of a Construction Management Plan for each site would require construction vehicles over 3.5T to follow the set routings with signage provided by the developer. The intention is to encourage Runnymede to adopt these routings through the use of a planning condition. |
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Draft Policy VW11
Virginia Water Green and Blue Infrastructure Network
We have identified the existing network and highlighted opportunities to improve connectivity. The policy will require future development proposals to relate their scheme to this network and leave nature in a better state than before.
It can also be used as a signal to the Surrey Nature Partnership that it should consider the role of this network as part of the area’s future Local Nature Recovery Strategy.
Green infrastructure provides opportunities for people to access open space and provides habitats for wildlife. Improving the ecological, visual, heritage and recreational value brings environmental, social and health benefits . The Cabrera Trust Riverside Walk is an excellent example of this approach.
By embracing these nature and biodiversity features it gives them more importance in the planning system and will contribute to our community's health and wellbeing.
Virginia Water Green and Blue Infrastructure Network
We have identified the existing network and highlighted opportunities to improve connectivity. The policy will require future development proposals to relate their scheme to this network and leave nature in a better state than before.
It can also be used as a signal to the Surrey Nature Partnership that it should consider the role of this network as part of the area’s future Local Nature Recovery Strategy.
Green infrastructure provides opportunities for people to access open space and provides habitats for wildlife. Improving the ecological, visual, heritage and recreational value brings environmental, social and health benefits . The Cabrera Trust Riverside Walk is an excellent example of this approach.
By embracing these nature and biodiversity features it gives them more importance in the planning system and will contribute to our community's health and wellbeing.
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Draft Policy VW13
Community Infrastructure We are preparing a list of facilities in the village that we know our local communities enjoy and cherish, ranging from our schools, sports grounds, play areas to our community centres and pubs. This policy is intended to protect them from loss and to support proposals to improve and extend them. |
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