Rushden Neighbourhood Plan

Latest stage

Neighbourhood Plan 'Made'

The Rushden Neighbourhood Plan (covering the period 2011-2031) was formally adopted (‘made’) by the Planning Policy Committee on 4 June 2018. It now forms a part of the development plan for the area (Parish of Rushden) 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:

Previous Stages

Referendum

A referendum relating to the Rushden Neighbourhood Plan was held on Thursday, 24 May 2018.

The question asked was:

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

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

Declaration of Result

Referendum Documents

The Council published the following documents to support the referendum:

The specified documents referred to are available below:

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.

Previous Stages

Neighbourhood Plan Examination

On 15 January 2018, John Slater was appointed to undertake the independent Examination for the Rushden Neighbourhood Plan. The Examination finished on 4 April 2018, with publication of the Examiner's Report.

Rushden Town Council’s Policy and Resources Committee recommended approval of the Referendum Version Neighbourhood Plan (incorporating the Examiner’s Modifications) on 17 April 2018, to go forward to referendum on 24 May 2018.

During the Examination, the Examiner raised a number of questions regarding specific policies/ proposals in the submitted Neighbourhood Plan. These were considered by East Northamptonshire Council and Rushden Town Council and the responses were collated into a response to each of the Examiner's questions:

Examiner's questions, incorporating answers from Rushden Town Council and East Northamptonshire Council, 6 March 2018

17 representations were received during the “Regulation 16” consultation (3 November – 18 December 2017, inclusive; further details below), which preceded the Neighbourhood Plan Examination. These may be viewed through the following link:

Regulation 16 Consultation Responses

Previous Stages

Submission of Rushden Neighbourhood Plan

On 26 October 2017, Rushden Town Council wrote to East Northamptonshire Council, to formally submit the Rushden Neighbourhood Development Plan 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:

A map identifying the area to which the proposed neighbourhood development plan relates [bound within the submission version Rushden Neighbourhood Plan];
Submission Version Policies Map;
The Consultation Statement;
The proposed neighbourhood development plan [Rushden Neighbourhood Plan Submission Version (October 2017)];
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, Rushden Town Council submitted the following documents:

Rushden Neighbourhood Plan, Submission Version, October 2017 (submission documents (a) and (c)), covering the period 2011-2031
Policies Map, Submission Version
Site Assessment Report
Consultation Statement (submission document (b)), incorporating Equalities Impact Assessment, Habitat Regulations Assessment and Strategic Environmental Assessment screening opinions
Basic Conditions Statement (submission document (d))

On 27 October, we wrote to the Town 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 Rushden 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 then ran a six week consultation under Regulation 16 (3 November - 18 December 2017), with reference to the “Basic Conditions” that the Neighbourhood Plan needs to meet. These require that the plan:

Has regard to national policy and guidance from the Secretary of State;
Contributes to sustainable development;
Is in general conformity with the strategic policy of the development plan for the area or any part of that area;
Doesn’t breach or is otherwise compatible with EU obligations – this includes the SEA Directive of 2001/42/EC; and that
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:

Regulation 14 Consultation (17 March – 2 May 2017)

On 17 March 2017, Rushden Town Council published the first draft version of the Rushden Neighbourhood Plan for consultation. The Regulation 14 consultation took place between 17 March and 2 May 2017 inclusive.

Designation of Neighbourhood Area

On 25 June 2013, East Northamptonshire Council received an application from Rushden Town Council for the designation of the whole of the Rushden Parish area as a Neighbourhood Plan area.

For general queries regarding neighbourhood planning please contact the planning policy team on 01832 742010

Neighbourhood Planning