Cerne Valley - the first Neighbourhood Plan made in Dorset

Not a bad first post for the blog - congratulations to Cerne Valley Parish Council,
the working group and all the residents for making the Cerne Valley Neighbourhood Plan the first neighbourhood plan in Dorset.  

I have to say it was great great fun working with the local residents as their planning adviser.  The working group included Fred Horsington who chaired the group and is now a Neighbourhood Planning Champion for the area, and Ian Humphreys, who became Chairman of the Parish Council and therefore had the unenviable task of being the nominated speaker at the Examination Hearing last summer.

Ian recently said what having a made plan meant for local residents

“We would say for the very first time that people have the opportunity as a community to influence planning matters and protect matters like green spaces.  It means that the district council has a legal obligation to give residents a strong reason to approve any planning applications that go against the Neighbourhood Plan.”

When I have a moment I will blog about some of the lessons learnt from this whole experience.