By Mark Smulian
4 April 2011
Seventeen communities have been chosen to pilot ‘neighbourhood planning’, which is set to come into force in England when the Localism Bill becomes law.
This is a new approach that aims to allow residents to help shape growth in their area. The 17 pilots will test how it might work ahead of the legislation being passed. Each will be given £20,000 towards developing their plan.
The plans can be used to determine, for example, locations of shops, offices and schools, to set standards for new housing design and give automatic planning permission for agreed types of projects through a neighbourhood development order.
Councils will adopt neighbourhood plans as formal policy, but only if they are approved in a local referendum and are in line with their policy for growth in the wider area.
Decentralisation minister Greg Clark said: ‘Planning has increasingly become one of the most contentious issues in Britain, with communities becoming pitted against development.
‘Often the reason is that local people feel alienated from the planning process, with no influence over changes to their area.
‘Neighbourhood planning will help to reverse that position by giving communities the ability to shape development in their area rather than being dictated to.’
The pilots, with their planning authorities, are:
· Allendale (Northumberland)
· Balsall Heath (Birmingham)
· Banbury (Cherwell)
· Bermondsey (Southwark)
· Blaby (Blaby)
· Bray (Windsor & Maidenhead)
· Cerne Abbas (West Dorset)
· Cockermouth (Allerdale)
· Dawlish (Teignbridge)
· Devonshire Park (Wirral)
· Hackbridge (Sutton)
· Lockleaze (Bristol)
· Lynton (Exmoor National Park)
· Much Wenlock (Shropshire)
· Newstead (Gedling)
· North Shields Fish Quay (North Tyneside)
· Ringmer (Lewes)
