Reviewing a Neighbourhood Plan

For those of you out there beginning to wonder about whether you should be thinking about reviewing your Neighbourhood Plan, here are a few (hopefully useful) bits of information for you.

In my opinion, there are two key factors that you need to consider in deciding whether you would benefit from reviewing and updating your plan.  These are:
(1) whether your plan is viewed as ‘out of date’ on the context of housing land supply.
(2) whether your plan is likely to be superseded by a Local Plan

In terms of (1) the main trigger for this is if the housing land supply in the area falls below 3 years or if there is less than 5 year’s supply and your plan has not allocated housing sites to meet its need or it is more than 2 years past adoption (unfair I know).  Once any of those measures fail, then planning decisions will be made in relation to the presumption in favour of sustainable development.  Although this doesn’t automatically mean all planning applications will be approved, what it does mean is that sites outside of the defined settlement boundary cannot be refused merely on the basis that they are ‘in the countryside’ unless there is a case that there would be significant harm.

In terms of (2) in Dorset the Local Plan is anticipated to be updated / renewed by early 2023 (if they stick to their current programme).  This may well look at taking a different approach to development in and around the main villages (for example) as a common approach has not previously been taken across the county.  We should know more this Autumn when their options consultation starts (and I will hopefully post something at that time!)

So what would a Neighbourhood Plan review entail - and how long would it take?

Any review as a minimum would need to include revising the plan and supporting information (insofar as relevant to any changes you may be making), running the 6 week 'pre-submission' (Reg 14) consultation and then submitting it for independent examination.  The examination includes its only consultation, and is run pretty much as for a new Neighbourhood Plan, but only focusing on the changed elements.  The question then is whether it needs to go to referendum, which depends on whether the examiner thinks it introduces a significant change. 

So the bad news is that I don't think a review could be done and dusted (with the plan then re-made) in less than 9 months, and quite possibly it will take a lot longer than that (read on...)

I have been keeping an eye out on some of the front runners - when I last looked the only one I spotted that had made significant progress was Farnham, which is now going to referendum next month (see their website) having started their review in 2018 and submitted their plan for examination in January 2019 (so a long examination which included a hearing).  This was certainly looking at a a significant change – they needed to identify land for a further 450 dwellings!  Chinnor is another example which is at examination but includes major new allocations.  Perhaps a slightly more 'borderline' case was Great Glen (see their website) which only added a site allocation for 10 homes (in a plan that formally had none).  But this was still thought to be significant enough to warrant a referendum (held last month).  From the look of it they started May 2018, and got to submission around May 2019 including site assessment work, and then another 8 months to the finish line, so around 20 months in total.  This would have been less (perhaps a year and a half) if they hadn't needed the referendum.

So how long will your review take?  Difficult to tell until you know what you may want to change, but I am happy to have a discussion with any of the groups I have supported previously if you want to get in touch.  The good news (and I know you are looking for good news at this stage) is that there is plenty of grant funding out there for reviews. 

Calling all landowners…

Both of the new planning authorities in Dorset are taking their first steps towards a new Local Plan for the two areas. 

Today, Dorset Council launched their ‘call for sites’ which runs until 25 October.  They are looking purely for sites for 10 or more dwellings, which may leave them looking for other ways to cover custom and self-build opportunities.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole will be following suit shortly, after their Cabinet meeting last week discussed the timescales for preparing their plan and gave the go-ahead for a call for sites to be launched, which will similarly run for 6 weeks. 

No doubt many of the sites that are submitted will be those that have been previously considered and not made the grade in previous Local Plans, but it also provides an opportunity to identify other site options if landowners who have not previously responded pick up on the consultation. 

Community Involvement - what Dorset says

Consultation on the draft Statement of Community Involvement has just started, with Dorset Council asking for feedback by 2 August. 

At just seven pages and fairly generous spacing, the question is, does it say enough?  In my experience the main issues raised by members of the public are not hearing about planning applications and the lack of officer support on neighbourhood plans.  I am not sure this Statement really addresses those questions clearly - the word "may" certainly appears at least 10 times!

So this is your chance to comment - what would you like them to actually say and stick to?

https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/planning-buildings-land/planning-policy/dorset-council-planning-policy/dorset-council-planning-policy.aspx

Planning-dominated Cabinet meeting

Today's June meeting of the Dorset Council Cabinet had a lot to talk about planning. Two Neighbourhood Plans are to go to referendum in August (Broadwindsor and Milborne St Andrew) and Bere Regis Neighbourhood Plan officially "made". The Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole and Dorset Waste Plan is also to be adopted after both Councils agree.

But of broader interest is the Local Development Scheme and recommendation to halt work on the individual Local Plan Reviews (with the exception of the Purbeck Local Plan that is already at examination) to crack on with a new Dorset-wide plan.  Just over 2 years of evidence gathering and consultation, before the plan is examined and finally adopted.  The timetable includes:

• Options Consultation: September 2020
• Publication of draft plan: September 2021
• Examination: Summer 2022
• Adoption: Spring 2023

And as part of it, Cinderella (or the Dorset-wide Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople Site Allocations Plan), which has been in preparation for longer than I care to remember, will finally get to go to the ball.

Latest Dorset Neighbourhood Plan examination news

In case you missed it, Sutton Pointz have caught up with Bridport to now be at their pre-examination 'Regulation 16' consultations.  Neither plan are specifically allocating sites, but are setting the context in which they hope better planning decisions will be made for their respective areas.

Bridport's examination documents can be found here: https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/planning-buildings-land/planning-policy/west-dorset-and-weymouth-portland/neighbourhood-planning/neighbourhood-plans/bridport-area-neighbourhood-plan.aspx 

Sutton Pointz proposed Neighbourhood Plan and supporting documents can be found here: https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/planning-buildings-land/planning-policy/west-dorset-and-weymouth-portland/neighbourhood-planning/neighbourhood-plans/sutton-poyntz-neighbourhood-plan.aspx

The 5 year supply - latest

The first set of planning application reports to be considered by the new Dorset Council are all now online.  One key thing to note is that, at least for the time being, decisions are still going to based on the separate housing land supplies on the previous local authority areas, rather than trying to take the temperature across the whole area.  Not that this particularly helps any of the areas.  West, Weymouth and North Dorset have all struggled to demonstrate a 5 year supply for some years, and East Dorset declared in December that they too have fallen below a 5 year housing land supply.  Only Purbeck are claiming that they have in excess of 5 years - though interestingly their January statement was based on the housing requirement of a 2012 Local Plan (which I am pretty sure is more than 5 years old), and their latest (May) statement is using a 10% buffer (which means they are relying on this being confirmed through the Local Plan examination) and they are also including some of the proposed Local Plan allocations in their supply - which arguably shouldn't be included at this stage.  So who knows where they are, right here, right now? 

Having said that, there is certainly still lots of movement in the planning arena that could help turn around the deficits.  One of the applications coming to the new Western and Southern Planning Committee is the outline application for up to 500 dwellings plus employment, retail and hotel uses at Littlemoor - nearly 4 years after the Local Plan's adoption.  As well as the 175 or so affordable dwellings this should also bring in over £4 million on developer S106 contributions - not an insignificant amount.

Dorset Local Plan updates

Couple of updates this week on the Local Plan situation.

The new timetable for the Dorset Local Plan Review is to be considered by the newly formed Cabinet at its meeting at the end of June (as announced by David Walsh - pictured - who has taken on the Cabinet role for Planning).  This should clarify whether the East, North and West Dorset's separate plan reviews are to be abandoned in order to focus on the combined plan.

Purbeck's Local Plan examination is moving forward, with the issues and Inspector's questions now published and two hearing sessions set for early July then early August.  Inspector Beverley Doward has raised about 150 questions to be answered - so it is understandable why she is setting a strict word limit on written responses!  Deadline for further submissions is set at 5pm on Friday 7 June 2019.

Another Neighbourhood Plan examined

The Examiner’s report on the Milborne St Andrew Neighbourhood Plan has been received – and subject to a few changes it has passed and should go referendum (or ‘people's vote’ if you like!) probably in August or September. 
 

The Examiner was satisfied with the plan’s approach to assessing and dealing with the area’s housing needs, including the mixed use site allocation opposite the Business Centre (which is subject to a live application).  In general he was happy with nearly all the policies, with a couple of very minor wording changes.  The two policies that he felt did need a bit more refinement were the one on design (where he has left it to the Parish Council to make some changes, mainly to simplify it) and the one on parking standards (where he has said we should delete the need to comply with our proposed parking standards, because he felt that this would be over-prescriptive and also he wasn’t convinced it was helpful to deviate from the county standards).

So the Neighbourhood Plan is certainly gaining weight - which will need to be fully considered when all the 'rejected' sites whose applications are in and waiting for a decision get decided. 

Upper Marshwood Vale shows what it can do

Upper Marshwood Vale is showing that even in sparsely populated areas there is a will to get Neighbourhood Plans in place to promote development that should benefit the local community. 

Their pre-submission draft plan is now out for consultation.  It includes policies that highlight the important places and spaces in the area, a more flexible approach to allow the conversion of existing buildings to provide new homes, as well as being 'open for business' for small-scale employment.  It also proposes two site allocations.  The first, a site opposite the Marshwood school, should provide a new site for the now closed village shop to re-open, as well as improved parking (for use by the school and church), in return for a limited number of new homes.  The second, the Three Counties Nurseries site on the outskirts of Marshwood (a redundant site), is where some live/work units could be allowed to be develop.

Sweet sixteen (and counting)

With Hazelbury Bryan and Sturminster Newton Neighbourhood Plans being made this week, I make that 16 plans in place across Dorset (including Poole and Bournemouth) - plenty more at Examination to add to this list later in the year.  Looking at the map there is an obvious lack of plans in East Dorset, perhaps this will change following the new Dorset Council and increased awareness of those local Members.

Shout out today for two Neighbourhood Plans:

Sturminster Newton, where the Neighbourhood Plan referendum showed clear support for the plan (89% in favour) despite changes made by the Examiner to remove the 'reserve' status of two sites to allow them to come forward sooner - countering the point made by some developers that Neighbourhood Plans are a NIMBY's charter.  Interestingly the Examiner had deleted the Bull Tavern site (as the Local Planning Authority had objected to it on heritage grounds) but the Committee overturned the officer's recommendation to refuse permission, on the basis that the community benefits outweighed the heritage concerns.  It rather begs the question whether the Committee should have be more involved in responding to the Neighbourhood Plan consultations!

Holwell, whose plan was officially 'made' at Full Council this week.  But I am sure the volunteers will not rest for long - there is a certain Village Hall project that no doubt will take up the slack!

Dorset and the Housing Delivery Test results

The housing delivery test results for Dorset published this week make interesting reading.  Purbeck, West Dorset, Weymouth and Portland benefit from lower housing projection requirement figures than set out in their published plans and therefore are seen to be meeting their needs (with about a 30% margin of comfort).  The conurbation, East and North Dorset are all struggling, at least 15% below their requirements, and will have a 20% (rather than 5%) buffer applied to their 5 year housing land supply requirement in order to encourage the release of more housing land. 

The question will then turn to the impact this may have on the new authorities post-April.  There are no ‘split’ figures as yet for East Dorset and Christchurch, but, based on the joint figure, rural Dorset just scrapes through meeting 102% of its needs.  Whether this will ‘save’ North and East Dorset’s bacon from April onwards has yet to be seen.  Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole will continue to require a buffer regardless.

A revised NPPF has been also been published, bringing the guidance up-to-date with a few “minor clarifications” which appear to be related to the housing delivery tests, the definition and deliverable development and also in relation to using the presumption in favour of sustainable development when the Habitats regulations requires and appropriate assessment of the impacts.  Nothing that should cause major panic.

Dorset Neighbourhood Plans - update

A few notable Neighbourhood Plan milestones achieved so far this month

• Piddle Valley Neighbourhood Plan's referendum took place yesterday (19 April) - the results have been declared with 75% in favour of the plan
• Gillingham's examination has now concluded, and the examiner's report has been published, signalling that this too can progress to referendum subject to some relatively modest amendments.
• Sturminster Newton's plan is now going through its pre-examination consultation
• The pre-examination consultation on the plan for Askerswell parish, created by their Neighbourhood Forum, ends on Monday.
• The plans for Fontmell Magna and Pimperne have also been submitted for their examination. 
• Hazelbury Bryan has published its pre-submission draft plan for consultation

A fantastic amount of effort by local volunteers representing their communities, so that local people can have more of a voice on the future of their area!

Loders Neighbourhood Plan - next step Referendum

Loders' Neighbourhood Plan has passed its Examination.  Congratulations to all involved!  The next step will be a local referendum.  As long as enough local residents vote 'yes', the Neighbourhood Plan should then become the second 'made' plan in Dorset.

Claire Wright undertook the examination over the Christmas period, and commended the extent to which the group had reached out to its community and was an inherently community-driven document, and the fact that the plan was clear, concise (at just under 30 pages) and easy to understand.  She has suggested some very minor modifications, none of which fundamentally change the Plan's contents or direction.  The District Council will formally consider her report in March.

It is likely that the referendum will be held on 5 May, to combine with the Police and Crime Commissioner elections on that date. 

Just published - the new Housing and Planning Bill

The new Bill on Housing and Planning had its first reading in the House of Commons yesterday.  So at last we have a clearer view of how some of the ideas on changes to the planning system that have been aired by the Conservative Party could come into effect.

Of particular interest to people involved in planning are the clauses on

Starter Homes - defined as a new buildings (or part of a building) purchased by a first-time buyer under the age of 40, sold at a discount of at least 20% of the market value, and sold for less than £250,000 (outside of Greater London).  Regulations can be introduced to cover various matters, such as adding other criteria on who is able to qualify for a starter home or specifying restrictions on the sale or letting of these homes. The regulations could also require planning authorities to require starter homes (either on-site or through financial contributions) when they are granting planning permission for certain types of residential development. 

Self-Build Homes - the basis of the changes here are to make sure that local planning authorities grant enough sites for self-build and custom housing to keep paces with numbers of eligible people on their register. The timeframes for Councils to do this will be set out separately in regulations.

Social Housing sales - introducing the mechanisms for affordable housing providers to choose to offer a right to buy to their tenants at broadly the same discounts as for council houses.  At the present time we don't know how many Dorset properties could be sold off, as not all social housing providers may want to participate. 

Neighbourhood Planning - to streamline the process for designating neighbourhood areas at the start, and for organising the referendum and 'making' of the plan at the end.  Details to be set out in regulations.  Neighbourhood Forums can also ask to be notified about planning applications in their area (this is something Parish Councils have been able to request for some time). 

Permission in Principle and Local Registers of Land - this section of the Bill lays the foundations for regulations to require planning authorities to keep a register of certain types of sites in their area, and for development orders to be made for these types of site (potentially through changes to national permitted development rights). The idea behind this is to enable small brownfield sites to be given ‘in principle’ permission for new housing (although technical details would still need to be approved locally). How these sites will be identified is not clear, but there is scope for the regulations to require consultation as part of forming the register. There may be more detailed requirements in the regulations on what type of brownfield (or other) sites will be suitable.  There is also the provision to have regard to the development plan – so, for example, if a site is allocated for another use, the 'in principle permission' would not automatically apply. The scope of these proposals could of course be widened beyond brownfield sites if this Bill is passed, and could also work for neighbourhood development orders.

The answers provided by the Bill inevitably lead to more questions, as a lot of the detail is to be fleshed out in the regulations, which have yet to be published.  The Bill may well be subject to changes along the way.  It doesn't include any mention of small site affordable home exemptions, which there was some speculation about following the recent changes in this field (which I should probably blog about in another post!)

Planning ahead for new or extended mineral quarries in Dorset

There are three weeks left to run on the Draft Dorset Mineral Sites Plan consultation. 

The draft plan includes proposals for new or extended sites for sand and gravel extraction including three sites around Crossways / Moreton  (Woodsford Quarry, Station Road and Hurst Farm) and four further sites between Bovington and Wareham.  Eight new sites have been identified for the provision of Purbeck Stone, mostly around Langton Matravers.  There are also proposals for an extension to a site on Portland (you guessed it - for Portland Stone).  Three sites (just outside Marnhull, and at Oborne and Lilington near Sherborne) have been flagged up for the provision of other building stone – these are all extensions to existing quarries.

UPDATE: the consultation has been extended and will now close on 23 October 2015.  The pre-submission draft is due to be published March 2016.

Neighbourhood plan for the future of Sherborne?

Last night Fred Horsington, Ian Humphries and myself gave a talk to the Sherborne Society CPRE AGM about neighbourhood plans and the Cerne Valley experience. Lots of questions about whether a neighbourhood plan is worthwhile – and discussion on whether Sherborne Town Council may take up this baton after the elections in May.