Alderley Edge Parish Council has decided to proceed with creating a Neighbourhood Plan which is a legal document setting out how a community would like their village or town to look in 15-20 years time.
Unlike Parish Plans, Neighbourhood Plans must be taken into consideration when planning applications are determined.
In addition to enabling communities to have greater ownership of planning policies and decide where development should go, there would be a potential financial benefit to the village in setting up a Neighbourhood Plan due to the introduction of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). This is a new scheme which will replace S106 money and money from CIL could be used to offset the costs of setting up a Neighbourhood Plan.
Speaking at the Parish Council meeting on Monday, 11th April, Councillor Craig Browne explained "For parish and town councils that have a Neighbourhood Plan that has been ratified the town or parish council would get to keep 25% of any funds that are raised as a result of development whereas strictly speaking we don't get anything from the Section 106 Money it goes directly to Cheshire East.
"But for town and parish councils that don't have a Neighbourhood Plan in place that percentage figure drops from 25% to 15%, so that is an incentive."
Councillor Christine Munro is leading this project and produced a report for the Parish Council meeting which included details of the associated costs, including consultancy fees which Cheshire Community Action has estimated at £8,782.80. This would cover 18 days of their input though this level of support may not be required. Additional costs include hiring of venues for meetings and presentations and the printing of questionnaires and the completed plan.
Councillor Munro explained that once they have submitted the area that the plan is going to cover and it is has been agreed they can apply for £7000 from Cheshire East. Then once they have started the questionnaire they can apply for a further £8000.
Representatives from Alderley Edge Parish Council met with Nether Alderley Parish Council to discuss the option of working together to produce a joint Neighbourhood Plan.
Councillor Geoff Hall explained "I think there was a certain conclusion from that meeting that whilst it would very useful and important to cooperate and be aware of what we're looking at it would probably make more sense to do our plan separately.
"Partly because you get the funding, you can only get one lot of funding if you do it jointly, but also because our overlap is really in relation to Alderley Park.
"They as a community don't want to take on all the issues that we have in Alderley Edge and there's is quite a widely spread area so we probably don't want to take those on either. So to me that sounds like the best solution. We keep up the dialogue and we have a lot of discussion but our plans are managed separately."
Councillor Craig Browne confirmed he is in favour of producing a Neighbourhood Plan. Speaking at the Parish Council meeting he said "I think this is the only way really we will effectively be able to protect our Green Belt as a parish. It is clear from the emerging Cheshire East Local Plan that there are all kinds of issues remaining which are yet to be resolved.
"Also in the words of the Head of Communities at Cheshire East, Caroline Simpson, before she left, Cheshire East is not likely to ever be in a position where it can demonstrate a 5 year housing supply and that means that it is effectively open season in terms of development so anything we can do to try and at least attempt to control development and protect the Green Belt I am fully supportive of."
Councillor Geoff Hall said "It really is an enormous commitment in terms of work. I think we really will need to call on the community for practical support. I have been very heartened by the way the Advisory Group for the Festival Hall has come together and we have drawn together some people with some real practical experience."
He added "I am concerned about our resourcing given the scale of the things we have to manage but I agree entirely with Craig that this is something we just can't duck, shouldn't and it does give us an opportunity to shape things for the future."
The Parish Council voted unanimously to take the project forward and submit a proposal to Cheshire East Council that their area would be the boundaries of Alderley Edge.
When a Neighbourhood Plan has been created it then goes out to referendum and local residents vote whether to accept the plan or not.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
I'm sure that there is a Business Plan for this matter. It will be interesting to read it, when it is published, especially the part that deals with what may be done if either the costs escalate unexpectedly or the grant monies do not fully materialise.
When this matter was last raised in A.E., I voted against a Neighbourhood Plan exactly because after I has consulted with other local Parish Council Chairs and Vice-Chairs they (with 1 exception) had decided not to go ahead, for fear of financial meltdown.
The AEPC have every right to go ahead however; good luck to them, but take care.
Parish Plans no longer have any legal standing and have been superseded by Neighbourhood Plans. The National Planning Policy Framework (paragraph 198) confirms this and states:
"where a planning application conflicts with a Neighbourhood Plan that has been brought into force, planning permission should not normally be granted".
I hope this helps to illustrate the importance of having a Neighbourhood Plan, which is why the Parish Council have decided to move forward with it.
Best wishes,
Craig
I may be wrong but I think Michaels point was about wasted money.
Parish Plan / Neighbourhood Plan, these things cost money - OUR money, and recycling points of reference don't cut the mustard.
Where's it heading? What benefit will it provide for Alderley Edge? And within what (precise) timescale?
Thanks for your comment. Having been involved in the Parish Plan myself (as Chair of the Transport/Parking Work Group), I have great sympathy with those who now feel like it was all a waste of time, effort and money; however, the decision for Neighbourhood Plans to supersede Parish Plans came directly from the Localism Act (2011), in other words Central Government.
At local level, we are just trying to work with the situation as it stands. The Dept for Communities & Local Government provide some grant funding to help with the costs of developing a Neighbourhood Plan and additional top-up funding is available from Cheshire East Council as well. We could, of course, choose not to proceed with a Neighbourhood Plan; but that would mean the Parish Council continuing to be treated as a mere consultee in the local planning process, with no real influence at all.
A Neighbourhood Plan is not just about trying to control housing development, it will also enable us as a community to shape and determine the kind of village we would like Alderley Edge to be in future. This might include (for example) formally identifying the green spaces we would wish to protect, sites we may wish to release for car parking, cycle routes we may wish to create, or pedestrian areas we may wish to make safer.
The process of bringing a Neighbourhood Plan forward to completion is a lengthy one, which requires a community referendum prior to adoption. It is likely to span the current electoral cycle, but it will be an opportunity for the whole community to get involved in shaping the future of Alderley Edge, as well as helping to establish some red lines in terms of local planning protocol.
Best wishes,
Craig