Re: Designation of a neighbourhood area - Public forum - Planning Advisory Service (PAS)

Unfortunately no. The Parish Council would need to ‘lead’ on preparing a Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) it but that just means they take responsibility in terms of endorsing it at the correct stages, they don’t have to contribute financially or anything like that. The PC will need to submit a Neighbourhood Area Application to the Council to start the process you will then need to advertise and invite comments on it (min 6 weeks), then determine the application and publicise your decision. The PC will then need to submit the final NDP to the Council to advertise and arrange examination and referendum etc. Who prepares the actual NDP is at the discretion of the PC. It is also important to note that a NDP does not have to be for the whole parish it could be for a settlement within it, which would mean that individual settlements could have a plan each, or to save costs each settlement could write its own chapter of the plan to cover specific issues with broader policies covered in the Local Plan or a seperate section in the NDP. The only localism power that a community within a Parished area would be able to use without going through the Parish Council would be Community Right to Build.

I concur with Kirsty. The best option is to have a NP with volumes. You can start with one village and add others later, but it will always be one NP. It would be owned by the parish, and everyone in the parish would get to vote. On that point, the Government has just issued the draft regulations on the referendum... over 100 pages on how to put an X in a box. Its all legitimate stuff, but NPs were supposed to be a light touch... weren't they.

So a neighbourhood plan is a portfolio or folder of documents. Haven't I seen that before... On a separate note, in terms of designating a neighbourhood area in parished areas, where the proposal corresponds with the parish boundary, does the PC still have to submit a NP Area application or is it acceptable by default?

John The Parish Council still needs to submit an application to designate a Neighbourhood Area even where the proposal corresponds with the parish boundary. Amongst other things, when considering a NA application, the LPA has to consider whethe the Neighbourhood Area should be designated as a business area (section 61H of Schedule 9 to the Localism Act). I'd be interested to hear from local authorities who have received objectons to proposals to designate a Neighbourhood Area made by a parish, in terms of how you are dealing with these.

Afternoon We are about to consult on a parish boundary neighbourhood plan. The question has been put to me - if all responses come back to say they don't want a boundary (i.e no neighbourhood plan!) can the Council refuse the application? Has anyone seen anything on the reasons for refusing a Neighbourhood Plan application? Thanks Many thanks Naomi

We are consulting on a Neighbourhood Area Designation for the whole of a parish boundary at the moment: http://www.warwickdc.gov.uk/NeighbourhoodPlans I would also be interested also to hear if other LPAs have receieved objections and how they have been dealt with. One question that has been raised is what if the parish boundary changes following a review (we are expecting one in a couple of years) and some of the area moves into another parish that might also preparing a neighbourhood plan? Without knowing if or where parish boundaries will change it would be difficult to turn down an application. However, it has the potential to be a headache further down the line. There doesn't appear to be provisions in the regs about amending boundaries.