Northam Neighbourhood Plan

For details of the meetings and membership of the Northam Neighbourhood Plan Advisory Group, please see the meeting's page under the Your Council tab.

On the Advisory Group's page you will also be able to find minutes of the meetings so you can read what has been discussed and agenda for forthcoming meetings.

For the next stages of the Northam Neighbourhood Plan development will be publicised both through this website and through a dedicated Facebook page. A new Facebook Page is being produced and will be available soon.

The Council undertook the required  Pre-Submission Consultation exercise early in 2023. This involved the Plan being made available to the public, and local business and community organisations. A public event was held in each community, each of which was well attended.

Feedback was gathered both through a questionnaire completed by local people and in responses to specific sections by organisations.
504 questionnaires were completed and recorded. The results can be viewed HERE.   

The current DRAFT version of the Neighbourhood Development Plan can be read HERE.

The current DRAFT version of the Neighbourhood Development Plan Appendices and other papers are also available to read HERE.

Step 1: Getting set up and deciding on the neighbourhood area.
Following the requirements of the Act, the Town Council leads on the neighbourhood plan. It decides on the neighbourhood area (i.e. the area within which the neighbourhood plan policies will apply). This is often the same as the parish boundary. 
Once the neighbourhood area has been identified, it needs to be submitted to the local planning authority for designation, to officially recognise it.
 

Step 2: Community consultation and evidence. 
The whole point of a neighbourhood plan is that it is community led.
The neighbourhood plan advisory group needs to talk to lots of people locally – residents, businesses, community groups, schools – to find out what’s important to them about where they live, what they’d like to improve and what their vision is for the local area.
The Council must also gather evidence to back up, to evidence the ideas that the community want to see.
Using feedback and evidence, the Group will write the planning policies that will make our community’s vision a reality.

Step 3: Submitting the plan.
Once our draft neighbourhood plan is complete, it’s submitted to the local authority.
They’ll check that the Council has followed the correct procedures and that all required documents have been submitted, the local authority will then arrange for an independent examiner to check that the plan meets the basic conditions.
Finally, if our plan passes these tests, the local authority will organise a public referendum vote, so that everyone who lives in the defined neighbourhood area can decide whether they support it.
If more than 50% of the voters are in favour of the plan, the local authority must bring it into force.
This means that it will form part of the statutory development plan for the area, so any decisions about whether or not to grant planning permission in the neighbourhood area in the future must be made by taking the neighbourhood plan into consideration.