Neighbourhood Plans - Public forum - Planning Advisory Service (PAS)

Assuming the neighbourhood is not within a Civil Parish a neighbourhood forum must be designated by the local planning authority and needs to satisfy various criteria. Preliminary work undertaken by an ad-hoc body could be abortive (see Sched 9 Clause 61F)

I've been wondering the same thing ... Dave, what's Sched 9 Clause 61fF? Aren't most 'neighbourhoods' within a parish of some sorts? Appreciate that larger cities don't tend to have parishes but neighbourhood forums instead ... Thanks if anyone knows, it's an interesting one ...

Sorry if too brief - 1. Sched 9 of the Localism Bill 2. If an area is within a civil parish then only the Parish/Town Council can produce the Plan 3. A neighbourhood forum can only be designated in non-parished areas Link to Bill- http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmbills/126/11126.284-290.html#j878s

My understanding is that until the legislation comes in, then a neighbourhood can't be 'official', a plan can't be examined and certainly can't be part of the statutory planning framework. However there's no reason why a neighbourhood/parish can't neverthess start work on one. Although at the risk, as mentioned above, that the neighbourhood might not end up being the one which is recognised by the authority.

Thanks Dave/Alice. I guess if it can be demonstrated the Parish Council/Neighbourhood Forum have done enough engagement etc then the risk of being found unsound later on would be relatively small? Just seems a long time to wait till 2012 before starting .... Work now could surely form a fairly robust evidence base, particularly in terms of getting local people involved. One other thing, does anyone know whether Neighbourhood Plans have to be contained within a single authority, or could they cross borough boundaries?

According to normal procedure, depending on this year's Parliamentary timetable, the Localism Bill should receive Royal Assent this October. If it doesn't, then the Bill needs to start all over again. Since there is already enough pressure from potential neighbourhood fora, even if SoS has to introduce regulations, it's likely for DCLG to produce interim guidance. Hope this helps.

I've just picked this off of the PAS website and would suggest that waiting for the government to produce guidence on anything, might leave you vulnerable to having to accept a neighbourhood plan, even if you don't like what it contains. Given that the basis for any plan will be the LPA Local Plan, the abscence of an up to date LP, means you will probably not be able to reject/ignore a neighbourhood that adheres to the high level guidence. 'However, Clark told MPs he was interested in a Labour amendment to clause 92 of the Bill which proposed a deadline for having an up-to-date development plan in place “after which a presumption in favour of sustainable development would apply”.'

I am a town planning consultant interested in the content of Neighbourhood Plans. The bit that bites seems to be the spatial planning. It becomes part of the Development Plan. Any body got any idea if a Neighbourhood Plan can set out policies that the local planning authority would have to follow in dealing with applications, especially deails of outline permissions, including section 106 agreements. I am not saying that non spatial issues such as education, crime and security are not important. It's just that nobody will be legally obliged to listen

Ken Neighbourhood Plans will provide policies that supplement or refine the Local Plan (ie Core Strategy) polices for that area (ie neighbourhood). Whilst they may need to be in general conformity with the strategic policies and proposals of the Local Plan, that should not be a major constraint on having different policies for that neighbourhood than the rest of the local authority's area, although these differences will need to be justified in terms of the local evidence to support these policies. These polices will take precedence over the "area-wide" policies that they replace or refine.

Slightly off the thread of the original post, but am i right in my understanding that neighbourhood plans can be prepared by parish councils OR neighbourhood forums but not both. So in districts that are fully parished, ONLY parish councils can prepare a neighbourhood plan? However, am i right that whilst the parish should lead the process the would be able to involve other community groups (e.g. civic societies, resident associations) who would otherwise come together to create a forum? Notwithstanding the above, am i correct in thinking that the above does not apply to a plan proposed for a business area and that you can have a neighbourhood plan AND a business area plan? Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Hello John As I understand it (based on conversations with DCLG) a neighbourhood forum couldn't be set up in a parished area as the 'recognised' body to take forward a plan. But the idea is that the parish council doesn't just write a plan on its own, that it must involve other people. In many cases, Parish Councils will devolve different parts of the plan making to sub groups. But the point is only a Parish can take a plan through the process. If there is an area where the Parish doesn't want to do a plan, a group can still do the work but it wouldn't be able to be taken through the check and referendum, or be adopted by the Council as a Neighbourhood Plan. They could, though, talk to the local authority about it being an SPD, perhaps. I don't know about the business area plan questions.

As I understand it, only a Parish (or Town) Council can write, consult on and adopt the Neighbourhood Plan in a Parished Area. A seperate Neighbourhood Forum cannot be set up. But, the Parish Council should seek to involve other groups (as relevant) in preparing the Plan, to demonstrate at the Examiner that is has been properly prepared and consulted on. My reading is that Neighbourhood Forums can only be established in un-parished areas. So, it's one or the other, not both.

Another slightly off-thread post, but... am I correct in thinking that neighbourhood plans (or neighbourhood development plans according to the regulations) form part of the statutory Development Plan? If so, does that make them DPDs as well? If so, do they then need to be listed in the LDS? Any thoughts greatly appreciated. Thanks John

Can anyone tell me what status Village Design Guide SPD would have when a NP is adopted for that area? Any thoughts would be welcome