Neighbourhood Planning

Planning DivisionDepartment for Communities & Local Government

April 2012

Giving communities and individuals more power

• Principles of neighbourhood planning

• Process of neighbourhood planning

• Progress with legislation • Front-Runners –emerging

messages

• Support update

Local Government

Non-Domestic Rates

Planning

Community Empowerment

Made up of a number of interlinked policy themes with over 40 policy areas

The localism Act

Housing

London

“When people know that they will get proper support to cope with the demands of new development; when they have a proper say over what new homes will look like; and when they can influence where those homes go, they

have reasons to say “yes” to growth.”

•Greg Clark MP, 18/11/10

Localism Act - Giving communities and individuals more power

Through a package of Rights:

• The Right to Plan

• The Right to Build

• The Right to Challenge

• The Right to Buy

Neighbourhood Planning

• What is new ? Real statutory weight

• Building on the best of community-led planning

• Community-led – reduced LPA discretion

• All existing tools remain available

• The Basic Conditions

• Shaping not stopping development

Planning at neighbourhood level

• The Government is giving neighbourhoods far more ability to determine the shape of the places in which people live through ‘neighbourhood plans’.

• Empower communities – residents and business- to take control of the future of their areas

• Neighbourhood led

• Proportionate and robust– real power and safeguards

• Flexible - inspire innovation and creativity

• Pro-growth - exploring ways of enabling community supported development

• Critical role for local plan in setting strategic context

• New basis for partnership work with local authority

VISION

Full Planning Permission

Planning Policies

Outline Planning Permission

Other Policies

Other Policies

For neighbourhood to decide what a neighbourhood plan contains – plans are flexible to address different needs and expectations

Flexibility- putting neighbourhoods in control

The community applies for a neighbourhood area to be designated

Work up details with the community and consult consultees as appropriate

Independent Examination

If no parish or town council, a neighbourhood forum is designated

Local authority checks proposals

Community referendum

Make a plan or order

A simple majority is required here

Opportunity for consultees to provide written representations where major issues not dealt with above

Consultees notified of outcome

Submit proposals to the local authority

The examiner is checking the basic conditions – a plan or order must:

• have an appropriate fit with local and national policy;

• have special regard for listed buildings and conservation areas;

• be compatible with European and equality / human rights obligations

• Contribute to sustainable development

Neighbourhood Planning & Right to Build

For Right to Build the process is instigated by a ‘community organisation’ where the community decides it wants to bring forward specific development proposals for the benefit of the community

The community wants to shape the growth and development of where they live

If there is a parish or town council they take the lead

Legislation – progress

• Localism Act Royal Assent - November 2011

• 6 April 2012 brings in all neighbourhood planning provisions (with exception of referendums) e.g. duty to support

• Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 - commence 6 April 2012

• We are working towards ensuring that regulations on the holding of neighbourhood planning referendums will commence from summer / autumn 2012.

• Anticipate business neighbourhood planning referendum regulations will happen later 2012/early 2013

Front Runner programme

• Five ‘waves’ of frontrunners with over 200 Neighbourhood Planning Front Runner projects

• On 5 March we announced 108 schemes under the fifth wave of Front Runners

• Over two thirds of Front Runners are led by Parish/Town Councils

• Over 100 local authorities are now working with communities on neighbourhood planning

• Recently spoken to majority of front runner community leads for waves 1 – 4 to hear about progress and emerging lessons.

• No immediate plans for another front runner wave.

Key messages from Front-Runners

• Existing parish arrangements helpful in giving a head start; but neighbourhood planning works outside of parishes

• Communities have found neighbourhood planning more difficult than they envisaged and it is taking them longer than they first thought. First steps often the hardest.

• Found LPAs to be generally supportive.

• Content of neighbourhood plans – strong focus on provision of affordable housing, public realm, town centre regeneration.

• Motivations – many involved because they want to ‘improve my local area’. Some groups emerged from anti-development protest. But most see neighbourhood planning process as helpful – an opportunity to be proactive about planning in their local area, rather than reactive. Positive about having the power ‘to get on with it’ and bring benefits to local area for long-term.

Support for communities

• The Department made available £3.2 million in 2011-12 as part of the Supporting Communities in Neighbourhood Planning programme

• We want to make sure that neighbourhood planning is a success. We have taken the decision to review now the support that is in place.

• Whilst we carry out the review and consider what is needed for the future we have taken the decision to continue to fund the existing support organisations for a further four months (until end July).

Other support

• Committed to providing up to £50 million to local councils until March 2015 to make neighbourhood planning a success

• Published an easy to understand guide to Neighbourhood Planning (available at http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/introductionneighbourplanninge) and frequently asked questions (available at http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/2099152.pdf).

• We recognise communities and others may need some additional guidance - considering the most appropriate means of providing this.

Support Organisations

• The Prince’s Foundation • James.hulme@princes-foundation.org or Louise.boddington@princes-

foundation.org

• Locality• Dave.Chapman@Locality.org.uk or Karen.Mellanby@Locality.org.uk• • RTPI/Planning Aid• Jas.Mahil@rtpi.org.uk• Robert.Keith@planningaid.rtpi.org.uk• John.Romanski@planningaid.rtpi.org.uk

• NALC/CPRE• FionaH@cpre.org.uk or justin.griggs@nalc.gov.uk•

.

Neighbourhood Planning

• What is new ? Real statutory weight

• Building on the best of community-led planning

• Community-led – reduced LPA discretion

• All existing tools remain available

• The Basic Conditions

• Shaping not stopping development

neighbourhoodplanning@communities.gsi.gov.uk