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Planning Advisory Service (PAS)
Open group | Started - July 2012 | Last activity - This week

neighbourhood plan areas and Boundary Commission ward boundary changes

Former Member, modified 10 Years ago.

neighbourhood plan areas and Boundary Commission ward boundary changes

Hello,

can anyone provide any advice on how and when Parish Councils who want to designate a neighbourhood area that encompasses a whole ward should proceed if they know that it is likely that the ward boundary will change later this year. Could they get the area designated then ask the LPA to replace it with an amended designated area, or should they wait to designate the area once the Boundary Commission review has been concluded?

Are there any pitfalls in preparing a NP on the basis of a designated area that is likely to change?

Comments would be particularly welcome from anyone who has already experienced this.

Thanks 

Daniel Hudson, modified 10 Years ago.

neighbourhood plan areas and Boundary Commission ward boundary changes

Advocate Posts: 121 Join Date: 25/04/12 Recent Posts

In approving the NPA area, the LPA must take a view as to whether the area is appropriate in spatial terms.

Other than in simplifying member involvement, there doesn't seem to be any reason why an NPA and a ward have to be contiguous.

You could take the view that the Parish have specified an area which they consider makes sense at the present time and the fact that it is a ward is co-incidental and irrelevant to whether it is appropriate as an NPA. If a future NPA does not match the ward, why does it matter?

Procedurally, the Act allows for LPAs to amend an NPA with the consent of the Parish Council. However, if the changes are carried out at an advanced stage in the process and amount to more than adjustments at the edges, this may raise complications with SA. There may also be issues relating to the consultation and engagement of people who may be brought within the NPA at a late stage.

Former Member, modified 10 Years ago.

neighbourhood plan areas and Boundary Commission ward boundary changes

Thanks for your reply Daniel - there is some useful stuff in there. The issue is that the Parish Council could potentially not have jurisdiction over the whole area that is initially designated after the boundary review.  

Daniel Hudson, modified 10 Years ago.

neighbourhood plan areas and Boundary Commission ward boundary changes

Advocate Posts: 121 Join Date: 25/04/12 Recent Posts

The Act allows for a Parish Council to be NPA outside its area. Our Neighbourhood Planning Pilot does this - the area covers a Parish with a Council and a Parish with a Parish Meeting and the Parish Council is the NPA for the whole area.

I think that unless the area to be transferred goes into another parish, there should not be a legal problem. If another parish involved, the question arises as to whether the requirement for their consent applies retrospectively.

Incidentally the Act identifies future boundary changes as an area where the Secretary of State may issue regulations - he hasn't done so yet.