Neighbourhood Planning is a new layer of planning which provides communities with the power to establish policies to shape future development of local areas. With over 1,900 areas designated nationally and more than 500 plans approved, they are now part of the planning furniture. The plan is statutory which planning applications are judged against. The next stage for Ingatestone and Fryerning is to review the comments made during the consultation period.
For Neighbourhood Plans or ‘orders’ to be adopted, they will need to conform to planning policies and guidance at the local, national and European level. They will also need to demonstrate support from the local community through a referendum. We have been reporting our progress in newsletters since the Neighbourhood Plan Advisory Committee (NPAC) started work in November 2017. An approved Neighbourhood Plan will normally last for five years at which point it should be reviewed. It will also be possible to review the plan within the five year period if necessary.
You should all have had a chance to see the draft either on line via our website, at a coffee morning, or in the library or other community site (pre lockdown). Leaflets went into every household and via email to our businesses and formal ‘consultees’. The consultation period ran from 1 September to 31 October. Next steps We will submit the Neighbourhood Plan and Consultation Statement to Brentwood Borough Council who will review it against their Local Development Plan.
They will then appoint an independent examiner who will make one of the following recommendations:
a) That the plan should proceed to a referendum, on the basis that it meets all legal requirements.
b) That the plan as modified should proceed to referendum. c) That the plan does not proceed to referendum, on the basis that it does not meet the relevant legal requirements.
You will be able to follow the progress at www.ingatestonefryerningpc.gov.uk/neighbourhood-plan.
