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.

Double referendum

Nearly neighbours, Holwell and Hazelbury Bryan parishes both went to the polls last week for their respective Neighbourhood Plans.  Both plans tackled this issue of how much housing should be built and where it should go.

Despite the rather wintry conditions both had a good turnout of around 45% of the electorate, and a solid 'yes' vote (82% in Holwell and an impressive 92% in Hazelbury Bryan). 

Hazelbury Bryan in particular has been besieged by planning applications for housing outside the settlement boundary.  These have been vying for approval in the light of North Dorset's housing shortfall, trying to get in before the Neighbourhood Plan plugs the gap.  Just a week before the referendum an application for up to 35 dwellings had been recommended for approval, but members decided to go against their officer's advice to give great weight to the emerging plan.  The Neighbourhood Plan should now hopefully get the attention it deserves in future officer decisions.

Congratulations to both groups for all their work, which was clearly supported by local residents.

First NPPF2 plan to be examined?

Purbeck District Council submitted its Local Plan for examination on Monday (28 January).  I'm wondering if it gets the record for the first plan to be examined under the revised (July 2018) NPPF, given the deadline for having plans examined under the 'old' NPPF ran out on the 24 January. 

It introduces some potentially controversial new policies such as the 'small sites policy', a 'second homes' policy as well as reviewing the Green Belt to release land around Lytchett Matravers, Upton and Wareham, and strategic allocations at Wool and Moreton (Crossways)

For more information see their Local Plan Review webpage

Pimperne votes YES

The results are in for yesterday's referendum on the Pimperne Neighbourhood Plan: 
   321 votes cast in favour,
   46 against. 
So I make that 87% in favour of the plan, with a very respectable (40%) turnout.

The plan allocates three sites for housing as well as a host of other policies to protect the historic and rural nature of the village and surrounding countryside.

Congratulations to all those involved in the plan's preparation.

Swings and Roundabouts

Back from representing a Parish Council this morning objecting to a planning application that was making the most of North Dorset’s lack of a 5 year housing land supply.  A revised scheme, the first having been refused back in the summer on the grounds of poor design.  Although some of the members said they didn’t like it or want to support it, they did think it was better than the one earlier scheme (which is now at appeal) and didn’t think they had strong enough grounds to refuse.  So not exactly a ringing endorsement for good planning! 

However not all is doom and gloom, as the 8 week decision target has had its desired affect for one of my clients today, with approval (on last day of the 8th week) to remove a restrictive holiday use condition on a rural building.  I’m sure they’ll see the bright side. 

Talking of swings and roundabouts I’m looking forward to hearing the outcome of the NPPF ‘sustainability’ challenge that is being heard in the High Court and is expected at the end of this month…

More Neighbourhood Plan news

There is quite a run of Neighbourhood Plan news on my blog - and I make no apologies as there is a lot going on in Dorset. Updates this week include:

An appeal decision in regard to one of the key sites in the Shillingstone Neighbourhood Plan has been issued, with the proposed development (that was contrary to the Neighbourhood Plan requirements yet had been recommended for approval by officers) firmly dismissed. This shows that Neighbourhood Plans can make a difference.

Hazelbury Bryan has received their Examiner's report recommending some minor changes and to proceed to referendum.  The Examiner commended the Plan for being attractively set out, with generous use of plans and photographs, making it very user-friendly and easy to navigate.   

Holwell Neighbourhood Plans' Examiner's report is now available online.  The Examiner recommended some minor changes and to proceed to referendum. He congratulated the Working Group and the Parish Council on producing a comprehensive and well-illustrated document, that captured the character and appearance of the parish and showed a commendable extent of contact with the public during the preparation of the Plan. 

Sturminster Newton's Examiner's report has also been received - again recommending that the plan can proceed to referendum, but with more significant changes including making the reserve sites into site allocations and increasing the supply above that of the adopted Local Plan, based on the need for additional housing identified through the (yet to be examined) Local Plan Review. The controversial site adjoining the Bull Tavern has also been deleted - although the Examiner did consider that it may be possible to alter the policy in order to comply, but that this may not be helpful in the context of the existing planning application for that site.

Fontmell Magna Neighbourhood Plan was formally 'made' on 28 November, with the District Council offering its congratulations to the Parish Council and members of the Neighbourhood Plan Group in producing a successful plan.

Last, but by no means least, Arne Neighbourhood Plan starts its pre-submission consultation today, and will run to 28 January 2019.