Agenda item

Report of the Corporate Director (Public Protection, Planning and Governance) on Northaw and Cuffley Parish Council’s (NCPC) draft Neighbourhood Plan Document for consultation (Regulation 14).

Report of the Corporate Director (Public Protection, Planning and Governance) on Northaw and Cuffley Parish Council’s (NCPC) draft Neighbourhood Plan Document for consultation (Regulation 14). The consultation of the draft plan ran for six weeks and ended on the 1 November 2021.

Members noted that due to the consultation deadlines, a response had been approved by an Executive Members Decision Notice. The response was included in Appendix A.

A Neighbourhood Plan puts in place planning policy for a neighbourhood area to guide future development. It would attain the same legal status as a local plan once approved at a referendum. Once the Neighbourhood Plan is made part of the statutory development plan, applications for planning permission must be determined in accordance with the plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. The consultation was the first opportunity to comment on the draft Neighbourhood Plan.

At this stage in the preparation of the Neighbourhood Plan Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council is a consultee.

Strategic policies together with national policies, provided a context for Neighbourhood Plan policies. The Neighbourhood Plan could include policies that differ from non-strategic local planning policies or introduce new policies (providing they are in general conformity with strategic local planning policies).

In the response to the Parish Council, the Council advised the Parish Council to ensure the criteria proposed was not overly prescriptive and does not conflict with the delivery of strategic policies in the Local Plan.  Failure to do so could result in a wholly unimaginative approach to building design.

During the debate the following points were raised and discussed:

•    Members thanked Northaw and Cuffley Parish Council on their hard work for putting together the Neighbourhood Plan.

•    Members asked if other parishes within the Borough had prepared a Neighbourhood Plan.  Officers stated that Welwyn Parish Council had notified the Council that they wish to prepare a Neighbourhood plan but had not provided any further information on timescales or progress to date.

•    Members asked if Northaw and Cuffley were overly prescriptive in the plan or were officers giving advice to them to not be overly prescriptive. Officers stated that the response highlighted the danger of being too prescriptive and permitting bad designs that met all the criteria, and not encouraging good design. Officers also highlighted concerns that some of the requirements related areas covered by permitted development rights and would not get through the examination. However Officers did acknowledge that there was merit in providing clear guidance on what was acceptable and what was not.

•    Members were happy to see that climate change issues had been referenced in the plan. However Members believed these issues could be more prominent in the plan and added to the design code.

•    Members asked what would be the impact on the Neighbourhood Plan should the Council’s Local Plan not be adopted? Officers confirmed that in the absence of an adopted Local Plan, the proposed Neighbourhood Plan would not be in conformity with the current development plan in place and this would cause a conflict. The examiner would need to consider the extent to which the Parish Council was setting strategic policies rather than site location and development management policies. Officers confirmed that the Council would need to get further information on this matter should the Local Plan not be adopted.

•    With reference to paragraph 3.5 of the report, Members mentioned the lack of Traffic concern expressed in the Council’s response to the consultation. Officers stated that the response set out the context in terms of additional sites be put forward for examination in the Local Plan.

•    Members asked how the sites proposed in Cuffley would be allocated? Officers noted the risk to the Parish Council in having identified additional sites which had not been included in the Local Plan. Officers noted that the sites HS29 and HS30 were closer to the station, services and facilities and therefore should be preferred over Cuf15.

•    Members asked when the site location would be published. It was stated that the Council was waiting for a response to the letter Cabinet had sent the Secretary of State seeking clarification on government policy and housing targets.

RESOLVED:

(unanimous)

The Panel noted the response to the Northaw and Cuffley Parish Council Draft Neighbourhood Plan Document (Regulation 14) and that, due to the timing of the end of the consultation period, was approved via an Executive Member Decision Notice. The Panel also noted the next stages of the neighbourhood plan process.