Neighbourhood Planning

What is a Neighbourhood Plan?

A Neighbourhood Plan is a part of the Government’s localism agenda and reflects a simplification of what is considered an increasingly remote and complex planning system.

It is an opportunity for local people to directly shape and influence planning policies on matters that affect them.

It involves drafting planning policies that will ultimately become part of the official decision-making process.

Why Do It?

The Neighbourhood Plan will cover planning issues in areas such as housing, the environment, community facilities, heritage, businesses, traffic and leisure.

It adds local detail to broader planning policy and can say what open spaces are protected; what type of new housing is built, where, and what it looks like, and what new facilities are needed locally.

It enables local people to shape planning policies in line with local need.

What Can’t It Do?

The Neighbourhood Plan can’t be used to block all development, but it can include policies to say where new development should take place and what type of housing is needed.

The Neighbourhood Plan needs to be in general conformity with strategic elements of local and national planning policies.

This means that it can add detail to strategic policies to meet a local need for anything that requires a planning consent.

What Is Involved?

Once a decision is taken to prepare a Neighbourhood Plan, the area covered by the Plan needs to be formally designated by the Local Planning Authority.

A neighbourhood plan advisory group is generally formed comprising Parish Councillors and residents or people who work locally.

Consultation needs to take place with local people through activities such as drop-in events, focus groups and questionnaires.

Other evidence will be gathered about what policies are needed, and the Neighbourhood Plan will take shape.

Policies will be written and further consultation will take place to test public support for the draft policies and to share the draft Plan with a range of stakeholders.

The draft Plan will be submitted to the Local Planning Authority to confirm that it has followed the correct processes.

The Plan will then be publicised by the Local Planning Authority and everyone will have a further opportunity to comment.

The Plan will then be subject to an Independent Examination to test compliance with what is known as ‘basic conditions’ – primarily conformity with local and national planning policy.

All comments made throughout the consultation will be shared with the Examiner.

Once the Plan passes the Examination, and any modifications approved by the Parish Council, there will be a referendum involving everyone on the electoral register in the Parish.

If the referendum passes a ‘yes’ vote with a simple majority, the Plan is ‘Made’ and becomes part of the statutory decision-making process for planning applications.

What Happens If We Don’t Do A Neighbourhood Plan?

Without a Neighbourhood Plan, the community will be increasingly susceptible to speculative housing developments. Local Planning Authorities without a 5-year supply of housing may be unable to refuse planning applications even where they conflict with policies in the Local Plan. Moreover, developments that do take place are unlikely to address local housing need and meet specific local requirements such as smaller, more affordable houses and homes for the elderly, or to determine the location of any new housing.

Important local spaces will be vulnerable to development without the added protection offered by a Neighbourhood Plan and planning applications will be determined according to district-wide, rather than local, priorities.

Important local views may be compromised and the potential to establish ‘areas of separation’ to help maintain the character of individual settlements will be lost.

Locally important buildings and structures will be treated the same as all other buildings and not afforded the added protection that can come from inclusion on a ‘local list’.

Community facilities will have less protection from a change of use and opportunities will have been missed to identify new services and facilities that the community needs.

Business development may not take into account local circumstances and the need to recognise the impact on aspects such as traffic, noise and fumes.

Specific locally-important features such as design issues, broadband speeds and specific affordable housing requirements may not be incorporated.

As more and more communities undertake a Neighbourhood Plan, those without one may be targeted by developers who see opportunities.

Perhaps most importantly, choosing not to do a Neighbourhood Plan misses an opportunity to strengthen local democracy, to shape development in the Parish, to engage with a wide range of stakeholders whose services have a direct impact on the community and to take control over matters of importance to local people.