Neighbourhood Planning

Latest Stage - Neighbourhood Plan 'Made'

The Raunds Neighbourhood Plan 2011-2031 was formally adopted (‘made’) by the Planning Policy Committee on 27 November 2017.  It now forms a part of the development plan for the area (Parish of Raunds) and from hereon will be used to assist in the determination of planning applications.

'Making' of the Raunds Neighbourhood Plan is confirmed by notice, under Regulations 19-20 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012, as amended:

• Statutory notice, confirming 'making' of the Raunds Neighbourhood Plan 2011- 2031
• 'Made' version of Raunds Neighbourhood Plan

Previous Stages: Referendum

A referendum relating to the Raunds Neighbourhood Plan was held on Thursday, 16 November 2017.

The question asked was:

"Do you want East Northamptonshire Council to use the Neighbourhood Development Plan for Raunds to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?"

The Raunds Neighbourhood Plan recieved a majority 'Yes' vote in favour of the question. The official declaration of results can be viewed below:

• Declartion of Result

Referendum Documents

The Council published the following documents to support the referendum:

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

The specified documents referred to are available below:

• Raunds Neighbourhood Plan (Referendum Version)
• Referendum Version Policies/ Proposals Map
• Raunds Neighbourhood Plan – Report of Examination (report of the independent examiner)
• Representations submitted to the Independent Examiner (Regulation 16)
• Summary of Representations submitted to the Independent Examiner [report presented to Planning Policy Committee, 20 February 2017 – Agenda Item 6]
• Basic Conditions and Compliance Statement

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

Neighbourhood Plan Examination

The Neighbourhood Plan Examination started on 19 May 2017, with the appointment of the Examiner. The Examination finished on 25 September 2017, with publication of the Examiner’s Report.

The following documents were prepared to support the Examination:

• Examiner’s questions, incorporating answers from Raunds Town Council and East Northamptonshire Council, 11 August 2017
• Raunds Town Council email response, 10 August 2017
• Land south of Meadow Lane/ Warth Park Phase 3 proposed site layout (planning reference 16/02119/FUL).

Submission of Raunds Neighbourhood Plan 2011 - 2031

On 11 November 2016, Raunds Town Council wrote to East Northamptonshire Council, to formally submit the Raunds Neighbourhood Development Plan 2011-2031 and supporting documents 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 [bound within the submission version Raunds Neighbourhood Plan 2011-2031];
2. The Consultation Statement [“Raunds Consultation Statement”];
3. The proposed neighbourhood development plan [Raunds Neighbourhood Plan 2011-2031, Submission Version (November 2016)];
4. A statement (“Raunds 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, Raunds Town Council has submitted the following documents:

• Raunds Neighbourhood Plan 2011-2031, Submission Version, November 2016 (submission documents (a) and (c))
• Raunds Consultation Statement (submission document (b))
• Raunds Basic Conditions Statement (submission document (d))
• Equalities Impact Assessment
• Habitat Regulations Assessment Screening
• Strategic Environmental Assessment Screening

On 15 November, we wrote to the Town Council, to confirm that the plan proposal complies with all of the relevant statutory requirements. Through this check, we identified an error on the policies map within the Submission Version Plan. Accordingly, the Town Council clarified this through an Erratum Note and corrected draft policies map.

The “Regulation 16” consultation

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

East Northamptonshire Council ran an eight week consultation under Regulation 16 (extended from the statutory six weeks, to take account of the Christmas break), 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.

The relevant consultation documents are as follows:

• Statutory Regulation 16 Notice
• Raunds Neighbourhood Plan response form (pdf version)
• Raunds Neighbourhood Plan response form (Word version)

The Regulation 16 consultation took place from Friday, 2 December to Monday, 30 January 2017 inclusive.

Regulation 14 Consultation (19 October - 1 December 2015)

During 2014/15, Raunds Town Council and Neighbourhood Planning group worked with the local community to produce a draft Plan. This first draft Neighbourhood Plan underwent its statutory Regulation 14 consultation between 19 October 2015 and 1 December 2015 (inclusive).  It is anticipated that the Raunds Neighbourhood Plan will be submitted to East Northamptonshire Council for Examination during 2016.

Neighbourhood Area Designation

On 28 August 2013, East Northamptonshire Council received a revised application from Raunds Town Council for the designation of a Neighbourhood Plan area for the whole of Raunds parish, together with those parts of Ringstead to the east of the A45.  This represents the first stage in preparing a Neighbourhood Plan.

• Raunds Town Council 2nd application for the designation of a Neighbourhood Area
• Confirmation that Ringstead Parish Council has no objections to Raunds Town Council using a boundary line up to the A45 for its Neighbourhood Plan (25 July 2013)
• Formal notice of application for the designation of a Neighbourhood Area

This application triggered a statutory consultation, inviting comments regarding whether the proposed boundary for Raunds was suitable for carrying out neighbourhood planning. This took place over a 6-week period, between 25 October and 9 December 2013, inclusive. Comments received were considered by the Planning Policy Committee on 12 Feb 2014, who endorsed the designation of Raunds Parish (together with the parts outlined above) as a Neighbourhood Plan area.

For general queries regarding neighbourhood planning please contact the Planning Policy team on 01832 742010.