Neighbourhood Planning

Current Stage

Brigstock Referendum

A referendum relating to the Brigstock Neighbourhood Development Plan 2011-2031 will be held on Thursday, 6 December 2018.

The question asked, will be:

"Do you want East Northamptonshire District Council to use the neighbourhood plan for Brigstock to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?"

If the Brigstock Neighbourhood Development Plan receives a majority 'Yes' vote in favour of the question, then East Northamptonshire Council is obliged to “make” (adopt) the Plan as part of the statutory Development Plan covering the parish of Brigstock.

Referendum Documents

The Council published the following documents to support the referendum:

• Notice of Referendum
• Information Statement
• General Statement about the Planning System and Neighbourhood Development Plans

The specified documents referred to are available below:

• Brigstock Neighbourhood Development Plan 2011-2031 Referendum Version (December 2018)
• Examiner's report
• Representations submitted to the Independent Examiner (Regulation 16)
• Summary of Representations submitted to the Independent Examiner [report presented to Planning Policy Committee, 4 June 2018 – Agenda Item 6]
• Basic Conditions and Compliance Statement

The Parish Council (Qualifying Body) has similarly published relevant documents, to support the published Referendum Version Plan.  These may be viewed through the Parish Council’s own Neighbourhood Plan web page.

Previous Stages

Neighbourhood Plan Examination

On 25 June 2018, John Slater was appointed to undertake the independent Examination for the Brigstock Neighbourhood Plan.

The examination finished on 3 October 2018, with publication of the Examiner's Report.

Further information about issues raised by the Examiner, regarding the settlement boundary and Habitat Regulations Assessment are set out below

Settlement boundary – land between 8 and 14 Grafton Road

During July 2018, the Examiner reviewed the submission documents, Regulation 16 consultation responses and undertook site visits.  He provided initial feedback on 6 August 2018, regarding the position of the proposed settlement boundary at land between 8 and 14 Grafton Road.  The Examiner’s initial comments, together with responses from Berry’s (for German & Robinson), Brigstock Parish Council and East Northamptonshire Council, may be viewed through the following links:

• Examiner’s initial comments
• Berry’s response
• Brigstock Parish Council response
• East Northamptonshire Council response
• Agreed settlement boundary amendment

Habitat Regulations Assessment – recent case law

On 16 August 2018, the Examiner provided further comments, regarding recent European Union case law about Habitat Regulations Assessment screening.  Council officers considered the Examiner’s comments and sought feedback from Natural England before submitting a response.  The Examiner’s comments, together with East Northamptonshire Council’s response (incorporating feedback from Natural England), may be viewed through the following links:

• Examiner’s further comments
• East Northamptonshire Council response
• Natural England response

Regulation 16 Consultation Responses

Consultation under Regulation 16 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012, as amended took place from 6 April – 21 May 2018, inclusive.  5 responses were received.  The representations may be viewed through the following link:

• Regulation 16 Consultation Responses

Submission of the Brigstock Neighbourhood Development Plan

On 5 March 2018, Brigstock Parish Council wrote to East Northamptonshire Council, to formally submit the Brigstock Neighbourhood Development Plan and supporting documents for examination, in accordance with Regulation 15 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012, as amended.  The submission documents, or ‘plan proposal’, consist of:

1. A map identifying the area to which the proposed neighbourhood development plan relates [included within the submission version Policies Maps, bound within the Brigstock Neighbourhood Plan 2011-2031];
2. The Consultation Statement;
3. The proposed neighbourhood development plan [submission version Brigstock Neighbourhood Development Plan 2011-2031];
4. A statement (“Basic Conditions Statement”) explaining how the proposed neighbourhood development plan meets the requirements of paragraph 8 of Schedule 4B to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990

To comply with these and other statutory requirements, Brigstock Parish Council has submitted the following documents:

• Brigstock Neighbourhood Development Plan 2011 - 2031 submission (submission documents (a) and (c), and incorporating the Brigstock Village Design Statement)
• Consultation Statement (submission document (b))
• Basic Conditions Statement (submission document (d))

The Parish Council/ Neighbourhood Planning Group have also undertaken the necessary Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Habitat Regulations Assessment (HRA) screening, respectively required by the The Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004 (SI 2004 No 1633) and The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010 (SI 2010 No 490) as amended.  The screening opinions are available through the following links:

• Final SEA screening statement, February 2018
• Final HRA screening statement, February 2018
• Environment Agency, Historic England and Natural England responses

On 21 March, we wrote to the Parish Council, to confirm that the plan proposal complies with all of the relevant statutory requirements.

The "Regulation 16" Consultation

Submission of the Neighbourhood Plan under Regulation 15 represents the stage where Brigstock Parish Council and the appointed Neighbourhood Planning Group effectively “hands over the baton” for the neighbourhood development plan to the local planning authority.

The Regulation 16 consultation took place from 6 April – 21 May 2018, inclusive, with reference to the “Basic Conditions” that the Neighbourhood Plan needs to meet.  These require that the plan:

1. Has regard to national policy and guidance from the Secretary of State;
2. Contributes to sustainable development;
3. Is in general conformity with the strategic policy of the development plan for the area or any part of that area;
4. Doesn’t breach or is otherwise compatible with EU obligations – this includes the SEA Directive of 2001/42/EC; and that
5. The making of the Neighbourhood Plan is not likely to have a significant effect on a European site (as defined in the Conservation of Habitats and Species regulations 2010(d)), either alone or in combination with other plans or projects.

Further details regarding the consultation are set out in the statutory Regulation 16 Notice.

For the first time we have decided to use the Smart Survey consultation tool to manage this consultation.  It is hoped that this will enable more efficient processing and management of representations.  Please use the following link to submit your Regulation 16 consultation response:

• Submit a response to Regulation 16 consultation

If you have any queries regarding the Regulation 16 consultation please email planningpolicy@east-northamptonshire.gov.uk.

Regulation 14 consultation

Between 1 August 2017 and 22 September 2017, Brigstock Parish Council ran the “Regulation 14” (1st draft) version Neighbourhood Plan consultation. The findings of this are set out in the submission Consultation Statement

Designation of Neighbourhood Area

On 24 February 2015, East Northamptonshire Council received an application from Brigstock Parish Council for the designation of the whole of the parish area of Brigstock as a Neighbourhood Plan area.

A map showing the proposed area to be covered by the plan together with a copy of the application that has been submitted can be viewed below.

• Brigstock Parish Council application for the designation of a Neighbourhood Area
• Brigstock formal notice of application for designation of a Neighbourhood Area

Statutory consultation for Brigstock Neighbourhood Area took place over 4 weeks between 27 March and 27 April 2015.

Following the statutory consultation under Regulation 6 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 (as amended), the Brigstock Neighbourhood Area was formally designated by East Northamptonshire Council on 11 May 2015 under delegated powers.

• Regulation 7 Notice of Designation (11 May 2015)