In this briefing paper we look into the neighbourhood planning process within the English planning system, detail aspects of the ‘user experience’ of developing a neighbourhood plan using examples from two localities, and highlight future opportunities for this regulatory scheme. Introduced in 2011, neighbourhood planning provides communities represented by a neighbourhood forum or parish and town council an opportunity to develop planning policies suitable for their local area.
So far experience with neighbourhood planning has been slow to emerge. In early 2015, there were more than 1,300 groups involved in preparing plans, but fewer than 50 cases of successfully completed plans. Given that less than one in seven local councils in England have a local plan that is in compliance with national planning policies1, we suggest that the new actors that neighbourhood planning introduces to the planning system could enable professional municipal planners to emerge as providers of expertise to new groups involved in planning.
Under the new Cameron government, neighbourhood planning retains strong support from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). This briefing paper will provide you with an introduction into this interesting topic that puts you at an advantage.
YOUR copy can be freely downloaded from HERE