In more detail
One thing a neighbourhood planning process has to be precise about is the area the plan is for. This is because the plan is a legal document that will be part of the Local Planning Framework. It will be used in making important decisions about development. Everyone needs to share the same idea of where the boundaries are.
Parishes... and in practice
Some of the guidance on neighbourhood planning assumes that you live in a place with a parish council. If you do, then the boundaries of the parish will normally be the plan area. Most urban neighbourhoods, however, don’t have a parish council. In this case, you have to decide the boundaries of your area. Most guidance about the process: starts with you agreeing the area of the plan; then setting up a body to lead neighbourhood planning in it; and then asking the local council to recognise the area and lead body.
In practice, the initial stages in urban neighbourhood planning overlap:
- you can’t agree an area until you have started talking to other people (including local business and the council and possibly other public services like the police) about what they think
- you can’t set up a body to lead neighbourhood planning until you have talked to local business and to people who work locally and to the local councillor(s) and council managers and maybe other local services.
Rather than a neat process which goes forward in precise stages, if you’re doing neighbourhood planning in an urban neighbourhood, you need to be prepared for a creative and inclusive conversation at the start of your planning journey. The area; the lead body; the involvement of the council and others; and support from the planners employed by the council, are all up for negotiation.
Conversation
The initial conversation about a neighbourhood plan may take a few months. Representatives of voluntary groups, for example, usually want to confer with their members who may meet every other month. After the conversation is complete, you will have agreement about: the area; the lead body; and the council’s support and recognition.
There are just two more things to bear in mind about the plan area:
- it can be amended as the process goes on – although ideally you want to get an area which is right first time
- people can get very uptight about boundaries – particularly if they see them as defining an area they either want to belong to or don’t want to be part of. This can make the initial conversation a bit tense. Once you get into the process, however, it tends to get easier because rather than talking about boundaries (which are things which divide people), you are going to be talking a lot about centres (which are things which bring people together). When you talk about centres, it’s necessary to listen to everyone who uses them, whether they live in the designated area or not.
Neighbourhood planning means bringing people together to discuss the important interests they share in a neighbourhood. It is not about drawing a boundary around a place to exclude people from talking about it or playing a part in how it develops.
| Key Facts:
The boundaries in which a local plan applies need to be clearly agreed. Most guides to the neighbourhood planning process assume you will either work along the lines of parishes (which may not be very relevant in urban neighbourhodos) or say that you should agree the area at the outset. In practice, the process is not so clearcut and will probably involve some adjustment. The important things are to allow some time for a conversation about boundaries; to bear in mind that you can amend boudnaries to some extent as you go one; and that as you get into the process, it becomes more about centres within the area (and the people who use them) rather than the boundaries around them. |
Page Links from here
OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.
BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY PLANNING TOOLKIT DEFINITION SHEET This sheet may be reproduced in paper or electromic or any other form but please mention it was made by Chamberlain Forum Limited for Birmingham City Council supported by Department for Communities and Local Government.
| created: 2016-05-29 12:51:51 | by: admin | status: f published |