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/

Monday 18th Aug: old Magistrates' Court - Public Meeting by Lewes Rep Theatre

A public meeting will be held on Monday, 18th of August at 7.30 pm at the White Hart Hotel, Lewes where the proposed change of use by the Lewes Repertory Theatre Community Interest Company (LRT) to the disused Magistrates Court in Friars Walk will be discussed. LRT's Phoenix Theatre was destroyed by fire in March of this year.

The application, (SDNP/14/03805/FUL) can be seen and comments registered on the SDNPA web site (http://www.southdowns.gov.uk/planning ).

Sean O'Kane, director of LRT explained in the Sussex Express last Friday:

The change of use is classed as “D2” by planners and this means the building would not be demolished but used for “Assembly and Leisure”. LRT’s vision is to rehabilitate the present building into a centre for classes, training, rehearsal, performance and production for the local community and with the potential to host a wide range of events both from within and outside Lewes, from concerts to talks to children’s theatre.

The building offers possibilities for a variety of uses that respond to pressing community needs and LRT would develop the site as a community hub with its strategic location in the heart of Lewes. LRT has been approached by a number of established community groups who have said they would relocate to the building if the application is successful. All have said the former magistrates court building would be an improvement on their current premises.

The Old Magistrates Court could accommodate studios, exhibitions, and host events by voluntary organizations throughout East Sussex.  The site has excellent disabled access and could have crèche facilities. LRT is currently engaged in fundraising in order to realize this vision within the community. Should LRT’s application succeed the next step will be to approach the owners of the building, the Estates Dept. of the Ministry of Justice.

‘The Old Magistrates Court is solidly built, in excellent condition and centrally located,” said Sean O’Kane. “It could easily become a valuable resource centre for our community, and it would be a ridiculous waste of money, and tantamount to vandalism, to demolish it.”

Apart from eighteen unique theatre productions over the last ten years, LRT has facilitated a wide range of activities, from ballet school to a rehearsal and stage development venue for the performing arts (including New Sussex Opera), to meetings of local societies, to the construction of effigies for Lewes Bonfire.

A27 - Motorway Style Road Planned for Sussex

Here is an update on what is know about the current situation:

Proposed major trunk road 'improvements' have come out of what is happening at a national level with the Government’s 2013 spending review and its focus on increasing the amount of funding for road building.  There has already been a meeting in Brighton in January 2014 and a presentation on the A27 FEASIBILITY STUDY given by the DfT and the Highways Agency. Very broadly, the Study is to build on previous analysis including the Arundel By-pass studies, Worthing transport studies and previous Lewes to Polegate studies.

Amongst other things, my concern is that the study is a road transport study only and is not multimodal. I believe that any solutions should be devised within a context of a more co-ordinated approach to transport with an appropriate emphasis on measures with low environmental impact.

It is important to remember that business groups, especially in the Eastbourne area, and the MP for Eastbourne are very keen on duelling the A27 from Polegate to Beddingham. They are influencing the policy as set down by our local LEP:

Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs)

http://www.coast2capital.org.uk/

Key LEP proposals include: Promote national investment in major arterial routes including the M25, the M23/A23, the A27, and the Brighton mainline, North Downs and Coastway railways.

It appears that there are Local Transport Bodies (LTBs) as well - see the following:

LTBs: – report by the Campaign for Better Transport

http://www.bettertransport.org.uk/roads-nowhere/local-transport

The most critical thing for the public is to catch up with the current feasibility study and make comments on it. See:

Feasibility study for the A27 – due to be completed this summer

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/305033/a27-feasibility-study-scope.pdf

Conference - Speakers - Planning Battle for Lewes

Speakers:

Sean O'Kane, BA Hons - Founder and Director of Lewes Repertory Theatre Community Interest Company.  Educated at University of Exeter & Paris University where he was awarded 'Maitre des Beaux Arts'

Councillor John Lamb,  - Lewes Town Councillor and Publisher and Editor Ability magazine which is a campaigning publication for people who have difficulty using IT. He was educated at the University of London. 

Vic Ient, MSc - Founder of Save Lewes Architecture and life member of the South Downs Society. He is a member of the CPRE & the National Trust. His main career was in IT & Telecoms. Before moving to Lewes he was a County & District Councillor in Kent. He is now retired from business.