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Local Plan 2040 Draft Plan - Strategy options and draft policies consultation

Representation ID: 6511

Received: 13/09/2021

Respondent: Dr Hugh Laing

Agent: Phillips Planning Services

Representation Summary:

Paragraph 1.48 advises that the Council will provide Parish Council’s with a choice as to whether they wish to allocate sites around their villages.

This is a process that can work well if the Parish’s act reasonably quickly following indication of an initial intention to prepare a neighbourhood plan (NP).

However, whilst some Parish Councils have taken forward NP’s others have not and some have stalled such that some potentially good quality sites have not come forward.

It is submitted that where Parish Council’s confirm a desire to prepare an NP that will allocate new housing there should be a Policy within the Borough Plan that makes this commitment clear.

The policy should provide a guideline for the level of growth that the NP will seek to deliver i.e., 50 homes, 75 homes etc.

In order to provide an incentive for the speedy preparation of an NP the policy should also make clear that if the NP has not been made within 3 years of the adoption of the Borough Local Plan, the settlement boundaries for that particular village can then be held to be out of date and so applications for new housing development close to or adjoining settlement boundaries would then benefit from a presumption in favour of sustainable development.