Neighbourhood Plans

Under the Localism Act (2011) a new form of planning control & development was introduced - Neighbourhood Plans. This empowers local communities giving them a major role in the planning system and allowing them to shaping the development in their areas. 

This guide is designed to get a village, town or area group started in understanding what a neighbourhood plan is. It is focused on the South Downs National Park area. For more information follow the links at the end of this blog. 

This is where the neighbourhood plan fits into the planning system: 

For the town or neighbourhood:

It may only be for the town, parish or area

but it can have a major impact on 

protecting, developing 

and improving the area.

To quote a government planning inspector: 'neighbourhood plans are about land use.' What is the make up of a neighbourhood plan? Quite simply in the end the plan will be made up of these main sections:

What aspects of our local community and area can a neighbourhood plan have an effect on? Here are some examples:

Some general principles for Neighbourhood Plans:

While a Neighbourhood Plan is flexible to some extent in terms of what can be included, you cannot put whatever you like in it:

A Neighbourhood Plan can…

• Decide where and what type of development should happen in the neighbourhood.
• Promote more development than is set out in the Local Plan.
• Include policies, for example regarding design standards, that take precedence over existing policies in the Local Plan for the neighbourhood – provided the Neighbourhood Plan policies do not conflict with the strategic policies in the Local Plan.

A Neighbourhood Plan cannot…

• Conflict with the strategic policies in the Local Plan prepared by the local planning authority.
• Be used to prevent development that is included in the Local Plan.
• Be prepared by a body other than a parish or town council or a neighbourhood forum.
• What can a Neighbourhood Plan contain?

So long as your Neighbourhood Plan complies with the above principles, it can be as narrow or as broad as you wish. But it must be primarily about the use and development of land and buildings. It can also have a say in how buildings should look (their ‘design’), or the materials they are constructed from.

Typical things that a Neighbourhood Plan might include:

• The development of housing, including affordable housing and bringing vacant or derelict housing back into use.
• Provision for businesses to set up or expand their premises.
• Transport and access (including issues around roads, cycling, walking and access for disabled people).
• The development of schools, places of worship, health facilities, leisure and entertainment facilities, community and youth centres and village halls.
• The restriction of certain types of development and change of use, for example to avoid too much of one type of use.
• The design of buildings.
• Protection and creation of open space, nature reserves, allotments, sports pitches, play areas, parks and gardens, and the planting of trees.
• Protection of important buildings and historic assets such as archaeological remains.
• Promotion of renewable energy projects, such as solar energy and wind turbines.

What are the steps in making up the plan. Here is an extract from the CPRE guide:

Useful links (NB: the link may go out of date but the organisation can still be found by searching the web): 

CPRE - Short document and guide

http://www.cpre.org.uk/resources/housing-and-planning/planning/item/2689-how-to-shape-where-you-live-a-guide-to-neighbourhood-planning

file:///C:/Users/Vic/Downloads/How_to_shape_where_you_live.pdf

page 11/12

UK Gov: 

http://planningguidance.planningportal.gov.uk/

http://planningguidance.planningportal.gov.uk/blog/guidance/neighbourhood-planning/what-is-neighbourhood-planning/what-is-a-neighbourhood-plan-and-what-is-its-relationship-to-a-local-plan/

http://planningguidance.planningportal.gov.uk/blog/guidance/neighbourhood-planning/

Guidance:

Locality (national network of community-led organisations):

http://locality.org.uk/resources/neighbourhood-planning-roadmap-guide/

The Royal Town Planning Institute
http://www.rtpi.org.uk/planning-aid/neighbourhood-planning/

South Downs National Park Authority, SDNPA 

https://www.southdowns.gov.uk/planning/planning-policy/neighbourhood-planning/

Forum (anyone can join)

http://southdownsforum.ning.com/group/neighbourhood-planning

Grants:

http://mycommunity.org.uk/programme/neighbourhood-planning/

Old Magistrates Court

Old Magistrates Court - Quora Developments Flat Roof Box Design 

We understand that the SDNPA will meet on the 12th December 2013 to decide on future of this site. 

It may still be possible to submit your comments in these closing stages. Have a go! For the sake of our town!  

See below for recommended wording of objection letter

The historic town of Lewes deserves better than this!

The SDNPA are scheduled to meet on the 14^th November to decide on this application to (a) demolish the existing building & (b) erect a new building in its place. Please would you let the SDNPA know of your objections? We all hope that the authority will reject this inappropriate flat roof design right in middle of the conservation area in the heart of historic Lewes. 

To comment go to:
http://planningpublicaccess.southdowns.gov.uk/online-applications/ Enter the application number (SDNP/13/02497/FUL) and click the ‘comments’ tab. You will then be able to send your comments on line. You can also object to the application to demolish the courthouse by entering that application number: SDNP/13/02499/CON. 

If built this building were constructed it be bang next door to the Grade II Listed Fitzroy Memorial Library. In fact the architects carefully avoided any including of nearby building as you can see from the design sketch above! 

About the architects & the developer:

As indicated by their web site Juice architects are used to designing buildings more suitable for an out-of-town shopping centre or a new town. There is no indication that they have any skill in designing buildings suitable for an historic town. see their website: http://www.juicearchitects.com/4A_01_Sustainability.htm   

As for Quora,  their developments are along same lines of bland that 60s and 70s architecture, much of which is deplored today. Here is an example: http://www.quoradevelopments.com/projects-killamarsh.html. 

And Premier Inn (part of Whitbread plc) who are due to run the hotel aren’t much better:

Here is an example of Premier Inn and the county council riding roughshod over the local opinion despite the submission of a 12,000 signature petition: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-22871341. Premier Inn doesn’t have a good track record in terms of architecture or enhancing the character, fabric and community in towns and cities.  

The existing building





                   Ariel View 

Lewes Town 

Recommended wording of objection e-mail: 

I strongly object to this development and request Refusal of this application because of the scale and design of development and its lack of respect for the traditional materials, scale and appearance of the historic core of Lewes, which will cause harm to the traditional appearance of the national park in this location.

The traditional character of Lewes is set out in the conservation area appraisal (published in 2007 by the LDC & revised by the SDNPA in July 2012, draft) for this historic core of the town where is says that ‘fundamental principles’ must be adhered to for example it says “Any intervention should echo and reinforce those characteristics of the buildings, townscape and public realm of Lewes which make a positive contribution to the town and its local distinctiveness”.

Traditional materials are durable - local brick and tiles or traditional stucco. Roofs are traditionally pitched and tiled, or in Victorian times slate was used. The bulk of older buildings along the High Street were tiled with pitched roofs of red clay tiles or later, with slate roofs, with a return to tiles during the Edwardian period. The existing courthouse building used good quality traditional materials, although from a rather somber pallet. It has a complex tiled, pitched roof which reflects its context. The walls and façade are necessarily rather forbidding partly because the site was walled for security. The buildings did not cover the whole of the site.

This proposal would involve the demolition of the courthouse and its replacement by a flat roofed structure. The new building would have a curved, grey glazed tile elevation which includes shops on the ground floor. with a hotel above, facing towards the public car park regarded as being at the rear of the courthouse. The materials used are not commonly found in the conservation area, nor – by and large - are flat roofs. The main hotel elevation facing the car park is formed of large boxy unit 

Regardless of its durability, the design is out of scale with the smaller units found in Lewes and will not conserve, let alone enhance, the appearance of the conservation area.

The building proposed echoes much of the architecture of the 60s & early 70s which are in many towns & cities in the UK and are seen as eyesores now. 

We, who will have to put up with this structure long after the current developers have disposed of it will not want to be reminded of such architectural failures. 

Historically and currently residents, tourists & visitors are drawn to Lewes from a wide area because of the flint castle, flint and brick walled twittens, and the small scale, pretty streets of warm colours and quaint shops. A test for any new building in the historic core should be whether it will carry on the tradition and in turn become part of the attraction of this historic market town, rather than merely exploiting it.

This development is bland and large in scale. It might be acceptable in a new town context or on the fringe of an industrial area but is out of scale with the historic core of Lewes and will neither conserve nor enhance the South Downs National Park.