Neighbourhood Plan

The Localism Act of November 2011 sets out a ‘series of measures with the potential to achieve a substantial and lasting shift in power away from central government towards local people’. Included in these measures are reforms to make the planning system more democratic and more effective, and these reforms ensure that decisions about housing are taken locally. Instead of local people being told what to do, the Government thinks that local communities should have genuine opportunities to influence the future of theplaces where they live. The Act introduces a new  right for communities to draw up a Neighbourhood Plan.

The message from South Northamptonshire Council is that it would be in the best interests of the Parish to have their views on how they want their local area to be shaped in the future incorporated into the District Council’s ‘Local Plan’ or their own ‘Neighbourhood Plan’. These two documents are the official policies which must legally be consulted in any future planning application in our Parish. It would give parishioners an opportunity to have their say. It would set out what Parishioners want for their village in the future, how they would like it to develop and how they could protect it from detrimental and over-development.

Ashton Neighbourhood Plan Referendum

The report of the Examiner of the Ashton Neighbourhood Plan was received 20 November 2020. This concluded that the Ashton Neighbourhood Development Plan, subject to the modifications, meets the basic conditions and the other statutory requirements set out in legislation and can proceed to a referendum.

As part of their examination, the Examiner was also required to consider whether the referendum area should be extended beyond the Neighbourhood Plan area. They concluded that there was no reason to alter or extend the Plan area for the purpose of holding a referendum and no representations have been made that would lead them to reach a different conclusion. Therefore they concluded that the Ashton Neighbourhood Development Plan should proceed to a referendum based on the Ashton Neighbourhood Plan area as approved by South Northamptonshire Council on 18 November 2015.

The Examiner’s report and the Ashton Neighbourhood Plan, including Modifications, were considered at a meeting of South Northamptonshire Council’s Planning Policy and Regeneration Strategy Committee on 20 January 2021 where the Examiner’s report and modifications were accepted and it was resolved that the modified Plan should proceed to Referendum.

Whilst it is usual that the Neighbourhood Plan would proceed to community referendum following the Examination and endorsement of the Council it should be noted that in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that the Government has advised that all neighbourhood planning referendums that would have been scheduled to take place, between 16 March 2020 and 5 May 2021 are postponed in line with the Local Government and Police and Crime Commissioner (Coronavirus) (Postponement of Elections and Referendums) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 until 6 May 2021.

They continue in the Planning Practice Guidance (Paragraph: 107 Reference ID: 41- 107-20200925) to state that at this current time where a local planning authority has issued a decision statement (as set out under Regulation 18 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012) detailing its intention to send a neighbourhood plan to referendum, that plan can be given significant weight in decision-making, so far as the plan is material to the application. As such and following the decision of the committee and the publication of a Decision Statement significant weight can now  be assigned to the Ashton Neighbourhood Plan.

To contact Jeremy Roychoudhury about the Ashton Neighbourhood Plan, please email:

neighbourhood.plan@ashtonpc.org.uk

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