Fed up with inappropriate housing development in Illogan?
Then join the Neighbourhood Development
Plan team on Thursday 26th
June.
Illogan Parish Council will be joining forces with local
residents to develop a development plan for Illogan – a plan which will become
enshrined in law. Having a Neighbourhood Development Plan is the only way that
local opinions can be given the full force of planning law. This means that it
is vital to have a plan in place if we are to have any real say in how our
parish is taken forward over the next fifteen years or so.
The process of developing the plan will take around twelve
to eighteen months and members of the team will need to meet every few months
to steer the work forward. It would be particularly useful if local people with
development related skills such as knowledge of planning law, architecture or
local history etc. could come forward to join the team. However, it is
important to note that no experience of any kind is necessary – the important
thing is to have a passion for protecting and enhancing our villages and
hamlets within the parish.
It is also important to note that a Neighbourhood
Development Plan will not give us carte blanche to block development of any
kind. Our plan must ultimately be in compliance with Cornwall Council’s Local
Plan. The important principle though is that our plan will enable us to have a
say in how the Local Plan is implemented and it will give our views the force
of law. It will also protect us from developers who may wish to take us beyond
the development envisaged within the Local Plan.
It is a completely untrue statement to say that a Neighbourhood Development Plan will offer protection from developers taking us beyond the Local Plan.
ReplyDeleteA Neighbourhood Development Plan CANNOT PLAN FOR LESS development than the Local Plan, but they CAN PLAN FOR MORE.
I quote: “if the local planning authority says that an area needs to grow, communities CANNOT use neighbourhood planning to BLOCK the building of new homes and businesses;”
but simply “influence the type, design, location and mix of development”
From the Department for Communities and Local Government’s Neighbourhood Planning guidance document. I can send you the link to it if it would be helpful?
Considering that a Neighbourhood Development Plan can only be adopted if it is in line with the Local Plan, I come to the conclusion that its ability to give anyone any ‘real say’ is very limited.
I take issue with the claim that this is “the only way that local opinions can be given the full force of planning law”
Which planning law do you refer to please? Can you direct me to where is this law mentioned in the National Planning Policy Framework?
Strategic priorities such as ‘a need for homes and jobs in the area’ and ‘the provision of retail, leisure and other commercial development’ OVERRULE a Neighbourhood Development Plan, so its legal status appears a little redundant.
Once an NDP has been adopted - and therefore demonstrated that it complies with the strategic priorities of the Local Plan - if a planning application conflicts with the NDP then permission should not normally be granted (para 198 of the NPPF).
ReplyDeleteIn fact - once a NDP has shown compliance with the strategic priorities of the Local Plan then the non-strategic policies of the NDP take precedence - even over those contained in the Local Plan (para 185).
So I mainatain that once a NDP has been adopted it will prevent any unwanted development over and above that which is in the Local Plan - and this is enshrined in law. This is the only way that a town or parish council can create policies which local planning authority officers have to adhere to. Otherwise towns and parishes are simply consultees.
It is absolutely true that an NDP can't be used to block development within the Local Plan - but in can be used to prevent anything over and above what is in the Local Plan.