Neighbourhood Planning Network News  7 December 2018

Next Quarterly meeting: Tuesday 15th January 2019 17:30–19:00  ( IP09, City Hall )

Agenda

  •     Bristol Parking Policies as being brought forward in Local Plan
  •     a short update on the Joint Spatial Plan programme and the documents published in November, in response to the Inspector’s requests for comment by January 7th 2019
  •     update on the Local Plan programme for Bristol, and for the adjoining Unitary Authorities

Please let me know if you intend to come to this meeting.


Transport consultation affecting Bristol

Bath and North East Somerset (BANES) are consulting on their transport strategy. This will affect some areas of Bristol particularly in the areas of

  •     Hicks Gate Roundabout
  •     A4 to A4175 East Keynsham Corridor Study
  •     South East Bristol and Whitchurch Package

see the consultation here


Neighbourhood Plans

  • Redcliffe – Redcliffe Residents Action Group have been confirmed as the new group for the Neighbourhood Plan area of Redcliffe, as of November 28th 2018
  • Bedminster Green – an application has been made to bring forward a Neighbourhood Plan for the area of Bedminster between the railway and East Street running up towards Temple Meads. This will go out for consultation shortly.
  • Hengrove and Whitchurch Park NDP has been submitted and reviewed by an independent inspector. The revised plan will go to a referendum on 14th February 2019.
  • Lawrence Weston and Old Market are both Neighbourhood Plans that are ‘made’; that is have become planning policy.
  • Old Market Community Association have applied for redesignation as the Neighbourhood Planning Forum for the Old Market Plan. Consultation closes on 8th Feb 2018.

Important: Show your comment as planning group response.

It is helpful to the public and the planning officers to make it clear that your planning application comments are from the local planning group.

If you put your group name in the first line of the address, when commenting on Planning Online, this will be automatically shown. This makes it easier for others to locate your comment.

Please head the comments:comment from xxx planning group. so that it can be identified in the case officer’s report, including if you submit your response as an email rather than a Planning Online comment.


National consultation more planning reforms.

This consultation seeks views on planning reforms to make the most effective use of land and speed up the delivery of new homes?

The consultation is divided in to four parts:

  •     Permitted development rights and use classes (which includes a right to build above high street premises and relaxation of changing between A and B use classes)
  •     Disposal of local authority land
  •     Canal & River Trust: Draft listed building consent order
  •     New town development corporations: Draft compulsory purchase guidance

The proposals are out to public consultation at the moment, with a closing date of 14th January.


Planning 2020: the Raysford Review of planning in England.

“In 2011 … the then Prime Minister, David Cameron, described planning as the ‘enemy of enterprise’.

Since 2010 the English planning system has gone through a period of ‘radical’ reform and deregulation, but the outcomes for communities, the environment and the economy remain uncertain. Local government planning departments are under growing pressure to perform, but many report that they do not have sufficient resources, skills and capacity.

Evidence suggests that Local Plans have downgraded or removed policy on affordable homes, climate change and social inclusion. All of this is contributing to an increasing level of concern over the kinds of places

that are being delivered. Are we building the kinds of communities that the nation needs and deserves?” from Raysford Report 2018.

read the Raysford Review of planning in England, published in November 2018 here

and the executive summary here


Room to Breathe

The RTPI (Royal Town Planning Institute) has launched a campaign Room to Breathe in response to the new government proposal to extend permitted development rights to allow for commercial buildings to be demolished and rebuilt as housing.  The TCPA has launched a new campaign urging the government to reconsider this policy based on its harmful effects.

The campaign is being informed by:

  •     Bringing together existing evidence across the sector on the outcomes of the policy
  •     Gathering more detailed evidence including case studies from councils across the country
  •     Creating a coalition of people and organisations to stop the extension of permitted development
  •     Campaigning for much tougher national design rules for housing.

You are invited to provide examples of poor quality conversions – read more here.


And last but by no means least …

  • We have had several queries about the accountablility of NPN groups. Please remember that you have signed up to the Terms of Reference which include being open to new members and having regular meetings or other methods of engaging with the wider community. Developers and case officers must have confidence that your group is able to tell them what the community views will be at pre-app stage, if they are to take account of the group input.
  • Don’t forget to check developers’ Community Involvement statements when they are posted as part of the planning application documents. If they haven’t included all the points you raised, you can put this in a separate CI comment for the planning officer to include in his case report.
  • FYI as part of the Statement of Community Involvement Annual Review, we have agreed that NPN admin will, in future, provide the case officers with the contact details and names of the relevant groups to include in their pre-application enquiry responses to developers. This should reduce the number of cases where developers use generic addresses for groups that do not get forwarded to the right contact, and out-of-date contact details.

Please make sure you keep NPN updated if your contact details or personnel change.