Neighbourhood Planning - Northumberland Association of...

www.northumberland.gov.uk

Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council

Neighbourhood Planning

Thirston Parish Council

2 November 2017

David English Planning Manager (Neighbourhood Planning and

Infrastructure)

Email: [email protected]



Presentation Outline

• Neighbourhood planning powers

• Plan preparation process

• Progress with neighbourhood plans • National picture

• Neighbourhood plans in Northumberland

• Getting started

• Examples of neighbourhood plans

• Questions



Neighbourhood Planning

What’s it all about?

• Introduced in Localism Act 2011

• Empower local communities

• Neighbourhood led (Parish

Councils)

• Light-touch process

• Enable community development

• Incentivise communities to support

growth, not prevent it!



Purpose of Neighbourhood Plans

• Set out a local spatial vision

and objectives for the area:

o what will the area look like

in future?

o what will it be like to live in,

work in and visit the area?

• Locally distinctive land-use

policies to manage

development and support

growth in the plan area

• Allocate land for development



Neighbourhood Planning is about…

• Supporting growth:

accepting at least the

amount of development

set out in the Local Plan

• Shaping what it looks like

and agreeing where it

goes

• …And it can be about

protecting cherished local

spaces: Local Green

Space designations



Neighbourhood Planning is NOT about…

Stopping development e.g.

• wind farms

• housing development

• surface mining

or

Creating an alternative to the Local Plan:



Plan Preparation Process

1. Define Neighbourhood Area • Governance arrangements

2. Prepare and Publicise Plan • Vision; Objectives; Evidence;

Policies; Engagement to test

policies; Review; Consultation

3. Submit Plan to County Council • Basic Conditions Report • Consultation Statement

4. Independent Examination

5. Referendum Need 50% + 1 (of turn-out)

to vote in favour



The National Picture So Far…

Government statistics show:

• Over 2500 areas

designated

• Over 650 plans submitted

• Over 350 plans passed

referendum

• Referendum: 34% average

turnout; and average 88%

vote in favour

• Five plans have failed

Examination

• One Plan failed at

referendum



The National Picture So Far…

Costs of preparing neighbourhood plans (Government Figures)

• Lympstone (coastal village, Devon): £6,389

• Broughton Astley (large village, Leicestershire): £14,312

• Exeter St James (city centre plan): £10,450

• Heathfield Park (deprived urban area, Wolverhampton): £19,500

• Lynton & Lynmouth (coastal towns, Devon): £27,681

• Strumpshaw (small village, Norfolk): £4,220

Average: £13,758



Northumberland Neighbourhood Plans The Front Runners: •Allendale - Made June 2015

•Morpeth - Made May 2016

•Alnwick – Made July 2017

•Cramlington - Draft in preparation

•Tarset & Greystead - Withdrawn

Other Neighbourhood Areas Designated:

• Acomb

• Belford

• Berwick-upon-Tweed

• Ellingham

• Ellington and Linton

• Embleton

• Hexham

• Lesbury

• Longhorsley

• Lowick

• Mid-Coquetdale

• Norham and Islandshire

• North Northumberland

Coast

• Ponteland

• Seaton Valley

• Stannington

• Tillside

• West Bedlington

• Whittington

• Wooler



The County Council’s Role

• Localism Act ‘duty to support’:

– Practical help - providing mapping services

– Defining strategic planning policies

– Information sharing – online resources

• Decision making role:

– Designation of Neighbourhood Areas

– Decision to ‘make’ plan following referendum

• Commitment to work with Parish Councils:

– provision of a link officer for each plan

• Support – NOT deciding what the plan contains!



Is it going to hurt?

YES!

You will need:

• Time

• People

• Skills

• Money

• Energy

…and good reason…know why

you want a land-use plan from

the start!



Any Pain Relief Available?

YES! • Local Planning Authority - Duty to

support

• County Council commitment to work with

parish councils

• Opportunity to draw on existing

community networks – focus activity and

involve the ‘do-ers’

• Grant aid – Programme of grants and

direct support: £9k per plan, with more

help for complex cases

http://www.123rf.com/photo_24936323_hand-with-pills-medicine-tablets-and-glass-of-water-for-headache-on-a-white-background.html



Is it worth it?

YES!

Plans made so far have

helped to achieve

community wishes:

• Manage growth

• Direct development

• Positive influence

• Sometimes you can

get what you want!



Getting Started… Neighbourhood Area

• Single parish

• Group of parishes – which ones?

Taking the Lead

• One parish council needs to be nominated to lead

• Any other parishes must give their consent for area

designation

Governance

• Authorisation to act from ‘parent’ parish council – Terms of

Reference

• Steering group – how many people and who?

Community Engagement…Crucial for success



Approved Neighbourhood Plans

Upper Eden

Eden District (Cumbria) First neighbourhood plan to

examination and referendum

• Allows new homes on farms

for family, holiday let or local

needs

• Local exceptions housing

for local people

• Local policy differs from

Core Strategy – but passed

exam




The Lyn Plan Exmoor National Park

Policies to: • Allow affordable housing for

people with local connections

subject to size limit (90sq.m.)

• Control occupation of market

housing – only ‘principal

residences’ allowed.

• Support appropriately located

staff and seasonal worker

accommodation




Tattenhall

Cheshire West & Chester

Plan for incremental growth in

villages. Policies proposed to: • Limit scale of new housing-

max site size: 30 dwellings

• Protect local facilities

(subject to viability)

Plan seriously upset housing

developers – first high court

challenge April 2014 – They lost!




Worth Dover District (Kent)

Only 5 Policies: • Allocate one housing site for 30

dwellings

• Define settlement confines

• Local Green Space

• Allocates two employment and

mixed use sites

Community Objectives: • 14 community objectives

identified and shown at start of

plan – demonstrates importance

of non-planning matters




Strumpshaw Broadlands District (Norfolk)

10 policies including: • Protect village character

• Protect green space

• Support small scale

employment

• Maintain settlement limits

• Allocates land for housing,

allotments and new parish hall

– enabling development




Allendale First plan made in north east

11 policies:

• Allows demolition and rebuild

of redundant rural buildings for

a range of uses

• Removes size limitation on

extensions to houses – design

and impact assessment

• New affordable housing for

local people



…and when things go wrong?

Five Plans that failed:

• Wantage (Vale of White Horse) Aug 2016: “…extensive protectionist policies

and proposals.”

• Berinsfield (South Oxfordshire) May 2016: policies did not have regard to

national policy, particularly Green Belt policy.

• Storrington, Sullington and Washington (Horsham) March 2016: sites

allocated did not qualify as locations for sustainable development.

• Coton Park (Rugby) Jan 2015: two policies did not meet statutory

requirements (only four policies in the Plan!).

• Slaugham (Mid Sussex) Jan 2014: problems with meeting European

obligations (Strategic Environmental Assessment not good enough)

“The ultimate reason for failure is always the same – the Plan has not met the basic

conditions.”

Nigel McGurk, Independent Examiner



So…Will you get what you want?

Depends what you want to achieve

• Think about the planning ‘problems’ you might address

• What area should your plan cover – adjoining parishes?

• What’s your vision for the future of the area

• What are your priorities and objectives

• Engage, consult, explain,

tell people…tell everybody

…They all have a vote!



Resources to help…

Wide range of resources available online:

Helpful websites: • www.locality.org.uk

• www.mycommunity.org.uk

• www.ourneighbourhoodplanning.org.uk

http://www.locality.org.uk/

http://www.mycommunity.org.uk/

http://www.ourneighbourhoodplanning.org.uk/



Questions?

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