The Localism Act 2011 gave communities the opportunity to get new and very real powers to shape future development and land use in their areas for the period up to 2031. Communities can now produce a Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) which will contain planning policies that will be used, in conjunction with those in the Herefordshire Local Plan, to assess planning applications for the local area.
It is all about local communities determining the detail of how their area develops rather than just having the decisions based on the policies drawn up at County level.
Neighbourhood Development Plans can include policies on:
- Types, size and location of housing developments
- Support for local business and employers
- Protection of the environment and locally important features, buildings and views
- Measures to protect against flooding
- The siting of renewable energy projects
- Establishment of community facilities
..but that’s not all.
An NDP, when adopted, will have a legal status and must be taken into account by the planning authority when any developments or land use changes are proposed in the area. The policies contained in the NDP will have an equal status and weight to those in the Herefordshire Council Local Plan.
To enable us to take advantage of this opportunity the Parish Council has appointed a Steering Group to produce a Neighbourhood Development Plan to cover the three parishes of How Caple, Sollershope and Yatton.
Although initiated by the Parish Council and co-ordinated by the Steering Group the NDP must reflect the views of the community and all the policies must be supported by evidence. At all stages of the Plan the community will be consulted with to ensure that the community gets the NDP that the community wants. The final Plan will put to a local referendum.