HARTEST NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN MOVES TO ITS NEXT PHASE - THE REFERENDUM on May 7th 2026

You may be aware that the Parish Council together with the Neighbourhood Plan Working Group has been preparing a neighbourhood plan for Hartest. The plan has now been approved both by Babergh and an independent Planning Inspector and is ready for a public referendum. The referendum will be held on Thursday 7th May. Notice of poll >>

The referendum version of the plan now appears in the left-hand column together with a Referendum Information Statement. This includes the question you are being asked to vote on:

DO YOU WANT BABERGH DISTRICT COUNCIL TO USE THE NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN FOR HARTEST TO HELP DECIDE PLANNING APPLICATIONS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN AREA?

Di Rix, our Parish Clerk has put four printed copies of the plan in the Church Porch for those who prefer to read it on a hard copy.

The Elections Team will be publishing relevant notices on this page setting out deadlines for postal vote applications (anyone who is already registered to vote using postal voting will automatically receive their voting card in the normal way).

The polling station in the Boxted and Hartest Institute will be open from 7am to 10pm.

We do hope you will feel able to support the adoption of the Neighbourhood Plan. This is our last chance to make the Neighbourhood Plan a planning document guiding development in Hartest in the coming 13 years

Current members of The Hartest Neighbourhood Plan Working Group:

Ralph Carpenter (Chairman), Cllr. Nick Price, Douglas Chivers (Vice Chariman) Cllr Jo Pask, Clive Gare, Chris Collins.