Elford Neighbourhood Plan
What is the Elford Neighbourhood Plan?
River Tame at sunset – AW
The Elford Neighbourhood Plan is a local community project, initiated by Elford Parish Council and led by a group of residents, which it is hoped will help the community to have more influence on the future development of Elford Parish, and to help address local issues that residents and businesses are concerned about.
If the Neighbourhood Plan is adopted (which would only happen if it was approved by a majority of Elford residents in a local referendum), it would become part of the planning system for Elford, and planning decisions in Elford would have to abide by the policies of the Neighbourhood Plan.
Purpose and Objectives
A Neighbourhood Plan offers people living and working in a local area (often a Parish such as Elford) the opportunity to have a greater influence over future development in their neighbourhood. Local communities have used neighbourhood plans to protect their local green spaces, identify local housing needs, and create guidance for building design and heritage protection. Through such efforts, residents, community groups and business have created new planning policies that will help to guide future development of their local areas, so that it helps to fulfil the needs and hopes of local people.
Elford_in_the_Mist_AW
Progress to date
The first stage of the neighbourhood plan project was to apply for Elford Parish to be officially designated as a Neighbourhood Plan Area, which Lichfield District Council approved in August 2015. This allowed the Parish Council to apply for funding to help with the project, to pay for things like publicity, resources and expert advice on planning matters.
In February and March 2016, the Parish Council organised a series of meetings and discussion sessions for residents to get together to talk about a possible neighbourhood plan. All Elford residents were invited to these sessions, where we discussed what a neighbourhood plan could do for Elford, and what issues we might be able to address through one. Many different opinions, ideas and concerns were expressed, which have helped to inform the broad scope of the neighbourhood plan and subsequent discussions.
Since then, the Parish Council have organised a steering group of local residents (most of whom are not Parish Council members) who will take the project forward on behalf of the community. The steering group is formed of local residents who expressed an interest in taking an active role in the project, at the sessions in February and March. The steering group looked at the following broad issues, which were identified at the earlier meetings as being the main areas of concern amongst local residents.
- Local Services
- Housing
- Heritage and Conservation
- Natural Environment
- Development Management
The steering group prepared a residents’ questionnaire designed to find out in more detail what people think about various local issues, to help inform the direction of the neighbourhood plan. The survey asked questions about issues including local services, housing, concerns around development, our heritage assets, and the natural environment. This was followed by a further housing survey in February 2017.
The preparation of the neighbourhood plan is intended and required to be a democratic process, and its objective and policies should reflect the opinions and ideas of the local community as far as practically possible.
Preparation of the Draft Plan
Following the results of the survey, the steering group reviewed what the neighbourhood plan should set out to achieve. The draft vision and objectives of the plan, which were prepared following initial meetings, were worked on.
The steering group, together with their professional planning advisors, prepared draft planning policies which, if the plan is completed and adopted, will influence future development in Elford. A draft plan was written, on which all residents and various statutory bodies were formally consulted. Consultation took place in September 2017.
Consultation
In accordance with the 2012 Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations (Regulation 14), the Draft Neighbourhood Plan went out to formal consultation for a period of six-weeks from Tuesday 5th September 2017 to Tuesday 17th October 2017.
Following comments received during this consultation and discussions with the Development Plans Team at Lichfield District Council, various amendments were agreed between the Steering Group and their planning consultants, Urban Imprint. These were incorporated in a submission version of the Neighbourhood Plan ready for the next stage of consultation.
More details on the processes involved with preparing a neighbourhood plan are available on the Locality website: http://locality.org.uk/resources/neighbourhood-planning-roadmap-guide/
