Growing Futures (formerly Incredible Edible Mytholm) response to the Hebden Royd Neighbourhood Plan consultation.

Thank you for the invitation to respond to the Neighbourhood Plan consultation.

These are the principles and issues that Incredible Edible Mytholm would like to see foregrounded in the Hebden Royd Neighbourhood Plan:

1. There should be no development on good quality agricultural land except where this is directly needed by the farmers/growers and/or their staff, for purposes directly related to the food growing/production/processing. (But since the Natural England Agricultural Land Classification Map shows that agricultural land in Hebden Royd is poor or very poor, this may not be an issue.)
2. New builds -whether commercial, community or domestic – should incorporate innovative growing methods like vertical/wall gardens and roof gardens. These not only enable people to grow food for themselves, they also help insulate the building and so reduce its energy consumption for heating/cooling. Growing spaces should also be part of any new build developments, whether commercial , community or domestic.
3. We would like to see Browns Field used as a high profile food growing/education/training/natural play area/veg tourist attraction including an eco hotel and small retail outlet plus an incubator for zero waste manufacturing. We are working towards making an outline planning application for our proposed Growing Futures scheme on this site. We would appreciate support for this from the Town Council and in the Neighbourhood Plan. Food is cultural – so food and everything associated with it can change. We see this highly visible site as ideal for developing a sustainable, affordable, nutritious food culture that is fully integrated into the experiences of people living in and visiting the Upper Calder Valley.
4. We would like Hebden Royd Town Council to support the crowdsourcing of a People’s Food Plan for Hebden Royd, using the Australian People’s Food Plan as am inspiration/ starting point. Info here.
   This would then provide a plan for developing a fair sustainable healthy food system in the area. Enabling and protecting the development of such a food system should be a priority of any Neighbourhood Plan.