A COMPREHENSIVE blueprint for Oxenhope’s future has the eye-catching illustrations it deserves thanks to a photography contest run by the village’s parish council.

The Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) for Oxenhope, designed to cover the next 15 years, is nearing completion.

An informal draft of the plan has been finished and the formal version may be wrapped up by the end of November.

At their latest full meeting, Oxenhope parish councillors chose the winners of the photography competition, held to select images to illustrate the NDP.

Nearly 30 entrants submitted pictures in categories including Architecture, Landscape, Heritage, Movement & Travel, Agriculture, Village Life and Leisure & Recreation.

A spokesman for the parish council explained: “Councillors reviewed the entries in the NDP photography competition at their meeting on October 10 and decided on the winners for the various categories, as follows:Agriculture – Annelise Chippendale, Architecture – Tom Marshall, Heritage – Sarah Stott, Landscape – Andrew Schofield, Leisure and Recreation – Tom Marshall, Movement and Travel – Beth Nixon and Village Life – Joy Holdsworth.

“Councillors were delighted with the interest shown in the competition and thanked everyone who had submitted a photograph.”

One of the key purposes of the NDP, which will be a statutory document once it is signed off, is to help influence what types of new properties are developed in Oxenhope in future and where they should be sited.

But the plan involves much more than that and also addresses topics such as the natural environment, transport, tourism and agriculture.

A steering group comprising councillors and other local residents has been working on drawing up the plan since October 2016.

They have needed to demonstrate plenty of public participation in the process, to ensure the plan wins local support.

Once approved, Oxenhope’s NDP will be adopted by Bradford Council and will help determine planning applications.

An informal consultation on the plan finished on September 30. The final version of the NDP should go to a six-week formal consultation before the end of January.

Among the many recommendations put foward within the NDP’s first draft are the importance of new housing including enough resident and visitor parking and the need to retain open green spaces to safeguard the distinctive individual settlements which make up Oxenhope.

The documents supports future planning applications which secure the long-term future of the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, and backs the expansion of Oxenhope Social Club, to enable it to add to what it already offers the community.

The draft plan notes there are only a limited number of spaces and buildings available for economic activity in Oxenhope, so these should be retained for economic use.

It backs the expansion of businesses focusing on recreation, leisure and tourism, provided these enterprises are sensitively sited and do not harm the parish’s ecology, biodiversity or scenic appearance.

Turning to Oxenhope’s architectural heritage, the draft plan states: “There are 44 listed buildings in the parish and four conservation areas.

“Residents highly value the contribution these make to the distinctiveness and character of Oxenhope. This policy seeks to preserve heritage assets and their immediate setting.”

And showing it is in tune with the digital revolution, the draft plan states: “All new development must be designed to connect to high quality communications infrastructure.

“Support will be given to proposals that help to provide improved or additional connectivity for the parish as a whole.

“In order to support local businesses, home-workers and to provide a better service to residents, enhanced broadband services is in high demand in the village.”

As part of the NDP process, surveys were circulated to give Oxenhope people a chance to highlight their concerns, ideas and priorities.

Summing up people’s responses to the issue of housing, the draft plan notes: “The most in demand

house types are affordable housing for local people, smaller retirement homes, houses built to high environmental and sustainability standards, and three to four bed family houses.

“The most desirable size of housing development is individual homes, infill housing and small schemes of up to five dwellings.

“The biggest issues with the current stock of housing is parking and traffic related issues, low levels of energy efficiency, a lack of mid-sized houses, lack of affordable houses and strained local infrastructure.”

And summarising people’s reaction to survey questions on travel, the draft plan says: “The most common location for car storage is on a driveway with 38 per cent of responses.

“Joint second is on-street parking and garages both with 24 per cent. This means almost a quarter of all surveyed households park their cars on-street.

“The main traffic-based issues facing respondents to the survey are cars parked on-streets causing poor visibility and obstructions, a lack of suitable pavements for pedestrians and speeding vehicles.”