Neighbourhood Plan

DECISION

Having been duly proposed and seconded, the Planning and Transport Policy Sub-Committee RESOLVED : –

A: That the Puriton, Downend and Dunball Neighbourhood Plan be ‘made’ (adopted) as part of the Development Plan and be used for pre-application advice, determining planning applications and any other development management purposes in the Neighbourhood Area which was the Parish of Puriton.

Background

There was a referendum for the parish of Puriton on Thursday, 4th July 2017 to decide whether the residents of Puriton wish to request formally that Somerset Council uses the Puriton Neighbourhood Plan when deciding planning applications.

The referendum asked voters the question, “Do you want Somerset Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Puriton to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?

The result of the referendum for the Neighbourhood Plan is:

  • Total number of votes cast: 1,079
  • Number cast in favour of ‘yes’: 874
  • Number cast in favour of ‘no’: 171

Turnout was 59.2%

Background information

A neighbourhood plan sets out planning policy for a neighbourhood and once adopted by the Council becomes the main document against which planning applications in the area must be judged.  It can, for example:

  • identify key priorities for a community that relate to use of land
  • define where new homes, commercial premises or other development should be built
  • influence what new buildings should look like
  • protect locally valued buildings or green space.

It can not be used to stop development or override district or national policy.

Designating the Area

The first formal stage in preparing a neighbourhood plan is to designate the neighbourhood area. The Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 specify that in order to prepare a neighbourhood plan, the ‘qualifying body’ (usually the town or parish council) has to notify the council of its intentions to designate a neighbourhood area, state its reasons and submit a map of the proposed area.

Puriton Parish Council applied to Sedgemoor District Council to have the parish designated a Neighbourhood Area and on 2nd February 2017 Sedgemoor DC approved the designation. The Parish Council and residents can now work together to produce a vision for the parish.

UPDATE – The Neighbourhood Planning session held on 25/02/17 was a resounding success in that approx. 85 residents joined the Parish Council at the village hall to discuss the prospect of creating a Plan for the parish. A paper ballot was held and of those 68 who voted ALL voted that Puriton should have a neighbourhood plan. 13 residents signed up to say they would be willing to form/ work with a steering group in order to take forward the process.

The Puriton Neighbourhood Plan has been formally submitted to Somerset Council

Somerset Council is satisfied that this submission meets with the requirements of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 (as amended) and in accordance with those regulations, as the Local Planning Authority, publicised the plan for a period of six weeks from 1st November 2023 to 14th December 2023.

The submitted Puriton Neighbourhood Plan contains proposed planning policies relevant to the designated neighbourhood area. The Neighbourhood Plan, if adopted, will form part of the Development Plan for the area, and will guide future development.

Please click here to email any comments on the Neighbourhood plan.

All other evidence documents are available upon request to the clerk by email.

All contacts of green spaces were contacted on 3rd October 2022 by letter.  Further details available from the clerk.

Neighbourhood planning gives communities direct power to develop a shared vision for their neighbourhood and shape the development and growth of their local area. – Planning Practice Guidance

In 2011 the Localism Act gave communities the power to control planning in their areas through the creation of a neighbourhood plan. The neighbourhood plan is a document that sets out planning policies for a defined neighbourhood area (the parish of Puriton) and it is these planning policies that are used to decide whether to approve planning applications.

Although a neighbourhood plan must be led by the Parish Council, it is written by the local community.

A neighbourhood plan should support the policies in the District’s Local Plan and the National policies set out by the government. It cannot decide that the parish should get less development than the amount already identified by Sedgemoor District Council or the Government. However, it is able to control development by deciding where any new new homes should be built, what shops, offices and community buildings are needed, what green community spaces should be preserved or created. It enables the community to decide what those new buildings should look like and what infrastructure should be provided to support them.

Importantly, once a neighbourhood plan is properly brought into force, it attains the same legal status as Sedgemoor’s Local Plan.

A vital difference between Puriton’s Parish Plan, written in 2012, and a neighbourhood plan is that a neighbourhood plan has statutory weight, whereas the Parish Plan does not. However, the Parish Plan gives the Neighbourhood Planning Group a head start in that it can be used as an excellent resource to inform the development of a neighbourhood plan.

Puriton has a Neighbourhood Plan group that came together in May 2017. Notes of the group’s meetings can be found on this page. If you are a resident of Puriton and you want to be involved in the creation of a neighbourhood plan for the parish of Puriton please contact the Parish Clerk.

Key Neighbourhood Plan Documents

Neighbourhood Plan Supporting Documents