Broadland & South Norfolk Community-led Planning Programme Workshop 2: Choosing the right type of community-led plan
Introduction: Making the right choice John Walchester, Interim Joint Spatial Planning Manager Broadland District Council & South Norfolk Council
Insert Title Here Housekeeping
Insert Title Here Overview • Workshop 1 touched on innovations and developments in community-led planning over the years. • E.g. village appraisals, rural exception sites, community land trusts, parish plans, neighbourhood plans etc. • Idea of community-led planning ‘toolkit’. • Different CLPs have different benefits and purposes. • How do you make sure you choose the one that’s right for your community?
Insert Title Here Why it’s important • Is it going to deliver local aspirations? • Is the solution appropriate to the scale of the issue(s)? • Community support • Commitment of volunteer time • Commitment of funding and other resources
Insert Title Here Influence and Incentives • Weight afforded to certain CLPs Neighbourhood Plans All form part of the statutory Neighbourhood Development Orders planning system, once made Community Right to Build Orders • Incentives – having one of the above in place means 25% CIL for the parish, rather than 15% (capped). • A Neighbourhood Plan that allocates housing gives 2 years ‘protection’ where LPA housing policies considered out of date. • BUT… other initiatives such as exception sites and CLTs actually deliver development that the community wants. Design Statements can become SPDs etc.
Insert Title Here Other considerations • Different tools are not mutually exclusive – can use them in combination. E.g. Neighbourhood Plan incorporating a Neighbourhood Development Order Community Right to Build Order involving a Community Land Trust Parish Plan which includes a Community Infrastructure Audit • Could undertake initial engagement with community to find out what the broad issues are, before deciding on an appropriate CLP. • If unsure, talk to your local planning authority, other communities that have done CLP, bodies such as Community Action Norfolk, Planning Aid, Locality etc.
Different types of community-led plan and their benefits Rik Martin, Operations Manager Community Action Norfolk
Community Led Planning
General principles • Wide range of tools available - just depends what you want to do • All about one thing - Knowing your community and its wishes • Each tool identifies particular aspects of your community and may be used in different ways separately or together. – A Neighbourhood Plan will give you more say over housing decisions – A Community Led Plan or Parish plan may have less weight legally but can cover wider aspects of community and provide evidence for Neighbourhood plans, funding applications etc. – Community infrastructure Audits and Community Asset audits can help you understand what you have and how it is used (or why it isn’t) and what you need in the future – A Village Design Statement can you help you protect the character of the village impacting on landscaping, design, speed limits, road signs etc – Housing Needs Surveys can help you identify capacity for additional affordable housing Emergency Planning can be another incentive and an additional supplement or – embedded into other plans
Community Led Plan or Neighbourhood Plan? Extract from presentation by David Potter, South and Vale of White Horse District Cou
Community Led Plan or Neighbourhood plan considerations? • How much time do you have? • Incorporating other consultations to provide additional evidence • How much engagement from community? • Which communities should we include? • What issues do you want to address? • Is housing your only concern?
Making a choice
Neighbourhood plans • What is it? – Created by Parish/Town Councils – Provide more detailed priorities for development in your community – Gives you an opportunity to ensure the needs of your community are considered – Give everyone in the community a say – Carries more weight as it is a legal process
3 parts to Neighbourhood plan – Neighbourhood Development Plans • Policy document • Outlines what kind of development allowed, locations preferred, areas to be protected, specific needs of the community (eg local shop, affordable housing, green space) – Neighbourhood Development Orders • Can grant planning permission for particular types of development in specified areas.(removing need for standard planning application) • Requires a local referendum to approve once assessed • Could be used to build the shop identified in the plan. – Right to Build Orders • Type of Neighbourhood development order which allows any local community organisation to identify development need • Must exist to further the economic environmental and social wellbeing of the community in question • Could be used to develop a community owned shop, Community housing, playgrounds, community hubs. • Note these may be used singly or together and development orders/right to build can be identified as part of development plan and put into place as required
Neighbourhood Plans – what can they influence? • Decide the broad type of development and location • Identifiy priorities - regeneration, derelict land brown sites • Protect special areas of the countryside and important buildings. • Reduce risks (flooding) • Reduce travel by providing land for homes, schools, shops and businesses close together. • ENSURE YOU GET THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT FROM COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE LEVY (CIL)
Neighbourhood Plans – what they cannot do • Stop development that is identified in the local plan • Ensure developments go ahead once planning permission is granted • Decide who builds what or which business open • Stop businesses, schools or hospitals from closing.
Parish/Town Plans
influence • Parish Plans can be used to make sure local concerns and characteristics are taken into account • Influence how local services are delivered • can be fed into other plans and strategies
Opportunities for housing/community assets • Community Led Housing • Development Trusts • Community Land Trusts • Cohousing • Self-help Housing • Group or community self-build.
Land for housing • Where the land comes from can affect how it is used – this can be used to your advantage – Poors or charity land - retains charitable purpose – Rural exceptions sites - affordable housing for community only – Section 106 conditions opportunity for new community assets – Parish owned lands allows you to set conditions of sale
Other options – informal community-led plans John Walchester, Interim Joint Spatial Planning Manager Broadland District Council & South Norfolk Council
Insert Title Here Community planning statements • Informal, brief document setting out vision and aspirations for how community sees itself developing over next few years. • In common with other community-led plans, will involve engagement with the community to understand local views, needs and opinions. Could set out community’s views on where it feels development should occur, • what type, scale, character of development might be most appropriate, what the local infrastructure requirements are, which areas need protecting etc. • Could be used to influence development of emerging Local Plan. • Does not have statutory weight in the planning system. Useful way of empowering community to start identifying its aspirations for • the future.
Insert Title Here Community infrastructure audits • Map/inventory of community’s resources – physical (& social) • What is already available and how is it being used? • Where are gaps? How could things be improved? What are aspirations of community? • Research can be done by: Walking the area in groups Desk-based (aerial/street views, other plans and strategies) Surveys (online or hard-copy formats) Focus/discussion groups Mapping the various assets visually can aid discussions • Should be further engagement on prioritisation • Use the information to stimulate action – funding bids for improvements etc. •
Insert Title Here www.communityplanning.net
Community-led planning scenarios: Group Exercise Richard Squires, Senior Community Planning Officer Broadland District Council
Insert Title Here Community-led planning scenarios • Different scenarios have been produced, where the development of a particular type of community-led plan could be beneficial in each specific situation. • Decide what type of community-led plan(s) could be most useful in each scenario. • 15 minutes discussion • 10 minutes answering (and grabbing coffee!)
Insert Title Here CLP Flowchart
Insert Title Here Case Studies
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