Neighbourhood planning - how to do it

Wiltshire Council is ready to help communities considering getting into the neighbourhood planning process. This article is based on information provided by WC.

The government published regulations for neighbourhood planning in March 2012. These regulations provide the framework for the preparation of neighbourhood plans. They came into effect in April 2012. The government considers neighbourhood plans to be a new way for communities to decide the future of the places where they live and work. This includes providing the ability to choose where they want new homes, shops and offices to be built, by offering communities a say on what those new buildings should look like, and enabling communities to grant planning permission for the new buildings they want to see go ahead.

However, neighbourhood plans must be in general conformity with development plans such as the Wiltshire Core Strategy. It is therefore important that communities work with Wiltshire Council when developing neighbourhood plans.

The Localism Act places a legal duty on local planning authorities to support and advise communities that want to undertake neighbourhood planning.

Wiltshire Council has published a neighbourhood planning guide for parish and town councils. The guide seeks to help communities plan successfully and cost-effectively for their areas. There is no requirement for local communities to undertake neighbourhood planning. Alternative approaches are available and the guide provides advice on how to select the most appropriate approach.

'Parish plans' and 'village design statements' (VDS) are still valid approaches in many situations. It is anticipated that many communities will chose to update or develop new plans/statements instead of embarking on a neighbourhood planning process. However, neighbourhood plans form part of the statutory development plan and carry more weight in the decision making process than VDS and parish plans.

Neighbourhood plans can only be prepared by a 'qualifying body', which will be the local parish or town council. Neighbourhood planning should not be conducted in isolation from the community, and the guide recommends a steering group approach led by the parish or town council.

Each steering group will be allocated a 'link officer' from Wiltshire Council to provide informal advice and support. Further information can be found within the guide available on the Wiltshire neighbourhood planning portal at Neighbourhood Planning - A guide for Wiltshire's parish and town councils

The portal will also help communities stay up-to-date on progress with neighbourhood plans in Wiltshire, including the front-runner projects.

The guidance can be downloaded from the website and a dedicated email address (neighbourhood.planning@wiltshire.gov.uk) has been established to enable the planning service to respond to queries and provide support.

www.wiltshire.gov.uk/neighbourhoodplanning

If a neighbourhood plan is considered the most appropriate approach by a community, the regulations require that a neighbourhood area is defined and then submitted to Wiltshire Council for determination. The process for applying for an area to be designated is outlined within the Wiltshire neighbourhood planning guidance.

An application form has been produced and is currently being trialled by the Wiltshire front-runner projects. It will be available through the portal towards the end of August.

Local referendums must be held before neighbourhood plans can come into force. To become statutory policy and part of the development plan for Wiltshire, any neighbourhood development plan will need to be subject to significant community involvement and to meet the requirements of the Acts in relation to plan preparation. It would then be examined by an independent examiner, and, if found to be consistent with the National Planning Policy Framework and in general conformity with the Wiltshire development plan, to be subject to a formal referendum.

After all that and assuming the plans wins its referendum, the neighbourhood plan will become part of the statutory development plan for Wiltshire and will be used to make decisions about development proposals.

Draft Neighbourhood Planning (Referendum) Regulations were published by Government in June. The draft regulations are 117 pages long and provide for a referendum to be undertaken either at the same time as an election, or independently. The question to be asked in the referendum is prescribed.

The financial cost of the examination and the referendum will fall on Wiltshire Council.