EAST Meon residents are to vote on a document that will guide the development of the village for the coming years.
On Thursday, November 9, they will be asked one yes or no referendum question: ‘Do you want the South Downs National Park to use the neighbourhood plan for East Meon to help decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?’
If they vote yes, the East Meon Neighbourhood Plan will influence the development of the village until at least 2032.
Every few years it will be reviewed, and it will be updated or modified, if needed.
But its core principles will stay unchanged; no unsustainable large scale developments, new homes which meet local needs, and protection for green spaces, are top of the list.
Also in the document, which took around three years to prepare, are guidelines aimed at ensuring new houses blend in with the existing ones. There is also a desire for a tighter village boundary, to ensure the village does not spread into surrounding farmland, and a wish for more money to be made available to spend in the parish.
The South Downs National Park Authority approved draft plan residents are due to vote on was examined earlier this year by a government inspector, who praised the work that had gone into it.
In his report he said: “I must congratulate the parish council and the steering group on having produced a high-quality neighbourhood plan, based on a thorough understanding and analysis of East Meon.”
East Hampshire District Council will oversee the November referendum, and the result should be known in the early hours of Friday, November 10. Polling stations are likely to the same as ones used in other elections, but a full list will be published closer to the time.