Minutes:
Peter Heath-Brown, Planning Policy Manager and Emma Naylor, Strategic Planning Officer Delivered a presentation on Neighbourhood Planning to the group. The following key points were highlighted within the presentation:
Neighbourhood Plan
· A plan which set out policies in relation to the development and use of land. It could also include site allocations.
· Considered alongside the Local Plan therefore neighbourhood plan policies did not need to repeat the policies in the local plan
· They could further expand on local plan policies or essentially fill in the gaps by covering policy topics not featured in the local plan
Parish/ Village Plan
· A plan prepared by Parish Councils
· It may be useful to Parish Councils as they could be an action plan document which covered a range of issues
· It was not a Town and Country Planning document therefore carried no weight in reaching decisions on planning applications
Advantages of Having a Neighbourhood Plan
· It effectively gave communities a greater influence over planning in their area
· Helped facilitate development which was in line with local needs and priorities
· Processes and strengthens community relations
· Parish Councils would be eligible for 25% of relevant CIL receipt money compared to 15% without a neighbourhood plan
Challenges of Having a Neighbourhood Plan
· Most of the time and costs associated with the preparation of a plan were borne by the Parish Council/Neighbourhood Forum. They could take up to two years to prepare and they were cost dependant on many factors.
· The process was resource intensive
· Differences of opinion would need to be dealt with
· Difficult issues would need to be tackled
In England three Neighbourhood Plans had been formally made, fifteen had been submitted for examination and over three hundred and sixty neighbourhood areas were designated.
In Peterborough four neighbourhood areas were designated: Deeping Gate, Glinton, Northborough and Peakirk. Bretton Parish Council’s application to designate the whole of the Parish as a neighbourhood area was to be determined at the Planning and Environmental Protection Committee in October 2013.
Sally Anne Jackson, Peakirk Parish Council gave a verbal presentation to the group regarding Peakirk Parish Council’s Neighbourhood Plan. The following key points were highlighted:
· A Neighbourhood Plan could cost up to £100,000 to produce
· Peakirk were planning to have their Neighbourhood Plan adopted by Peterborough City Council by 2014. They had a timescale document which they were working to
· The aim was to get residents thinking where they wanted to be in 2025. There were as many 16 year olds and younger in the village as there were 60 + and they found there were no facilities for younger people.
· Residents were consulted with to decide the consensus
· There was a steering group in place for Peakirk which consisted of five Parish Council members and six non Parish Council members
· Peakirk introduced a theme of past, present and future
· Peakirk obtained a grant of £4,619
· To date Peakirk had spent £2874.10 on preparations for their Neighbourhood Plan
· A neighbourhood planning specialist had volunteered to transform the work in to a document
· The next steps would be to organise Neighbourhood Planning training and workshops.
· There would be a six week consultation on the draft plan. If there was a 50% agreement then the process would start and Peterborough City Council would have to consider the Peakirk’s neighbourhood plan when making planning decisions
· The Peakirk Parish Council would have to instigate the plan and make the final decisions
· There had only been five applicants in total for neighbourhood plans and the other villages that had applied were Deeping Gate, Northborough and Glinton
· Only Parished areas could adopt a neighbourhood plan, non parished areas would need a Neighbourhood Forum where a small group of people would come together to apply to have a plan.
· Some neighbourhood plans had been known to involve up to 17 parishes although this could lead to dispute with differences of opinion. It was advisable to apply for neighbourhood plans separately as this could lead to parishes getting £7,000 of funding for each plan.
· Cate Harding, Community Development Manager was working with Parish Councils to develop a Community Needs Assessment questionnaire to obtain feedback from neighbourhoods regarding their needs.
ACTION
Cate Harding, Community Development Manager to circulate the date and then the results of the Community Needs Assessment Questionnaire with the group.