London Colney Neighbourhood Plan
What is a Neighbourhood Plan?
A Neighbourhood Plan allows communities to create a shared vision for their neighbourhood. Neighbourhood planning is a process which enables local communities to shape the growth within their local area, including decisions on where housing, green spaces, local services and facilities are supported and how these should be designed. The resultant Plan typically consists of planning policies, aims and objectives for the local area.
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Why is a Neighbourhood Plan being prepared?
The purpose of the London Colney Neighbourhood Plan is to help improve the quality of life and environment for the community as a whole. This is important because there is no current up-to-date development plan that covers the area. This is creating a policy vacuum, meaning we have no policy in place to guide and steer future growth and change, nor determine planning applications submitted in the area.
It is therefore really important that a Neighbourhood Plan is produced. This will enable the local community to establish a vision for the future of the area and set planning policies that will shape future change.
So the Neighbourhood Plan will seek to influence the form and quality of the new development, to ensure that future change is done so in a way which respects and enhance local character. In addition, the Neighbourhood Plan can help to shape the type of infrastructure coming forward within the parish.
But the Neighbourhood Plan can be so much more than this. It provides an excellent opportunity for the issues and aspirations of the local community to be incorporated and addressed. This includes protecting local green spaces and heritage assets for example. Once formally ‘made’, the Plan will be a blueprint for positive change, with the needs of the local community at its core.
More than 900 communities across the country have successfully completed and had a Neighbourhood Plan ‘made’ as planning policy for their area. Many more are in progress, including those at examination. In total, 2,700 communities have or are working on Neighbourhood Plans.
What Stage is the London Colney Neighbourhood Plan at?
update: May 2022
The London Colney Neighbourhood plan is currently in draft form, waiting for the final "local green spaces" screening for Strategic Environment Assessments to be commented on by the statutory consultation bodies of Natural England, Historic England, and the Environment Agency. We are expecting this back by mid June. Once this has been completed and the draft plan updated with any comments from consultation bodies, the plan will move to "section 14 consultation". A 6 week consultation with residents on the draft plan, before it is submitted for examination.
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Once the plan has been the independent examination process, a referendum will be held for residents to vote whether they wish to have the neighbourhood plan adopted. If plan is adopted, the plan will form part of planning policy used when the District Council considers planning applications in London Colney, all applications will have to adhere to the policies in the plan.
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