What is a Neighbourhood Plan?
A neighbourhood plan is a new(ish) type of planning document introduced in the Localism Act 2011 that communities can use to set out how they would like their town, parish or village to develop over a period of up to 20 years depending on what the residents decide. The Ascott Parish Council is proposing that the neighbourhood plan would cover at least the period to 2031 which would coincide with the end of the current West Oxfordshire District Council (WODC) Local Plan. The aim is for the whole community to work together and decide how this location area should develop in the future. In a small village like Ascott this is primarily in relation to new housing.
What does a Neighbourhood Plan include?
The neighbourhood plan will set out policies about how land is to be used and developed; rather like the WODC Local Plan but concentrated on this area. It will be an officially recognised document against which any new planning applications will be judged. It must be supported by strong evidence so that it can’t be easily challenged. It also has to be developed by following several formal processes, which include an independent examination and a public village referendum.
How is it used?
A Neighbourhood Plan cannot disagree with existing national and local planning policies (this is known as the basic conditions test). But those policies are quite general. Once the Ascott-under-Wychwood Plan is written and adopted, it becomes part of WODC’s Local Plan. For the life of the Neighbourhood Plan, any planning applications within the Neighbourhood Plan Area will be assessed against the relevant policies in Ascott’s Plan, as well as all other planning policies that already exist. Planning Officers, Committees and Inspectors will have much more officially agreed information about Ascott issues when they make decisions.
Why do we need a Neighbourhood Plan?
The plan can give residents a much greater say on how it wants the neighbourhood area to be for future generations: including how new housing should fit in, what it should look like, what green spaces should be protected and whether there are specific local factors to be taken into account. Without it, there is a danger that local village concerns are misunderstood or get ignored by developers, planning officers, district councillors on the WODC planning committee and planning inspectors when decisions on new housing proposals are made.
Doesn’t the WODC Local Plan protect Ascott enough?
Once finalised, Ascott’s Plan is available to developers to see what the village specifically wants. Although there is no current housing need allocated to Ascott under the WODC Local Plan, this can change if other planned developments don’t go ahead. Also there might be a need for specific types of housing at a village level over the next ten years which we need to consider and even propose ourselves.
Who leads the preparation of a Neighbourhood Plan?
The Neighbourhood Plan has to be formally led by the ‘Qualifying Body’. That is generally the Parish Council in a small village and, after a lot of consideration, Ascott-under-Wychwood PC has voted officially that it would like to start the process of writing a Neighbourhood Plan. The PC takes ultimate responsibility but can delegate tasks to sub-groups to help with the management of the process, the research work and writing, and a range of public consultations that are required. The success of the process will depend very much on the support of residents as it should truly represent their wishes.
What area does the Neighbourhood Plan cover?
The PC must submit an application for a Neighbourhood Area. It does not have to be just the current parish boundary if there are good reasons for extending it. The PC is currently considering what the Ascott Neighbourhood Area should be.
The Neighbourhood Area boundary also determines who will get to vote in the referendum. This will be people who live within the Neighbourhood Area Boundary and qualify to vote in local council elections.
An application for a Neighbourhood Area must be submitted to the local authority (WODC) and, depending on the application, it may have to go through public consultation before it is formally designated.
What is in a Neighbourhood Plan?
The PC will need to engage with the community to understand what the key objectives for the plan should be. It is important that the plan reflects the views and wishes of the community.
Generally, a Neighbourhood Plan will look at issues associated with use and development of land within the neighbourhood area. The policies need to be related to development but, as an appendix, the Plan can include other issues that are not related to land use. This may help with deciding on future facilities, making changes or acting on other community wishes.
How much does a Neighbourhood Plan cost?
The cost of preparing a neighbourhood plan varies widely depending on the size of the population, the complexity of the plan and any additional technical studies and reports that may be required.
Grant funding from central government via Locality is available specifically for communities developing neighbourhood plans. The potential cost is being assessed by the PC but the intention is to spend as little as possible.
How long will it take to write a Neighbourhood Plan?
The average time to produce a Plan is usually 18 to 24 months. It’s not a quick process – the plan is going to last up to 20 years depending on what the residents decide, so we want to make sure we get it right.
How much will the community be involved?
It is really important that as many local people as possible are involved in the Neighbourhood Planning process and put forward their views about what they would like their community to look like in the future. You will be asked questions, given opportunities to make comments and share your views, and to take part in small consultations and discussions on various topics throughout the process. You will then have a vote on the final document in a Village referendum.
Affordable housing is often mentioned. What does it mean?
Officially, ‘affordable housing’ means housing provided to specified eligible households whose needs are not met by the open market, including social rented, affordable rented and intermediate housing.
The properties involved can be existing social housing stock; new stock explicitly built to be affordable homes (often by developers as a planning consent condition to enable a larger ‘mixed’ development); or existing private sector houses that have been subsequently purchased for use as affordable homes.
Rentals for affordable housing can be on the basis of a simple rental agreement tenancy or may involve ‘shared ownership’, whereby tenants obtain a share in the equity of the house they are renting by paying a deposit and/or a higher rental.
Sometimes people refer to affordable housing as simply meaning 2 or 3 bedroom houses with smaller gardens which are more affordable than larger 4 or 5 bedroom houses.
Will the neighbourhood plan promote Ascott’s character as a rural village in the Cotswold AONB?
Yes . Ascott under Wychwood is classed by WODC as a small village, and the Neighbourhood Plan will look to ensure that it grows as a village community within a village environment. Landscape policies will seek to protect the rural setting, and community infrastructure policies will look to promote the village facilities. A design policy could be included to require new houses to have a design that respects the distinctive character of Ascott under Wychwood.
What happens after the draft Plan is submitted to WODC?
The Plan will be reviewed by WODC and other key stakeholders over a six-week period and questions and comments sent back to the PC. These will then be considered, the Plan amended as required and the community will be told about any proposed changes.
When the revised (final) version of the Plan is ready, it will be submitted to WODC and they will then take responsibility for dealing with the final process –
- an independent expert inspection,
- the village referendum and
- its final adoption.
This final process follows a statutory timetable that typically lasts 6 months from the point of submission.
When do I get to vote on the completed Plan?
When WODC triggers the village referendum, all residents of the Parish over the age of 18 who are on the electoral roll are invited to vote in this referendum. It is expected that this will happen in the second half of 2021.