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Local Authorities have the duty to support your parish/town in preparing a plan. However, before you decide on a neighbourhood plan, consider the length of time and financial implications of producing one. The complexity of your plan will depend on what it is trying to achieve be it a single topic issues or a wide ranging. Your cost could also be impacted by the size of your population when it comes to surveys and community engagement activities.

The first formal stage of preparing a neighbourhood plan is to get your parish/town/area designated. Your community can begin to identify their issues and concerns as well as aspirations before you become a fully designated area. However, in the case of funding, your community will not be eligible to apply until you become formally designated as neighbourhood plan area.

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Your Neighbourhood Plan offers you several advantages and opportunities to influence and control development in your area. They are led by the parish and town councils and involve engaging with all residents, community groups and service providers serving your community. The plan will have to be accepted by the community through a referendum hence the crucial element of getting them on board and informing them of progress throughout the process.

Engage with all organisations, departments, local partners and residents to improve dialogue and negotiations which could help with the future development and implementation of your plan policies and proposals.

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Understand the purpose, discuss and agree the key principles of the Plan, including housing numbers, locations and types and other land use and infrastructure proposals.

Draft Plan including a summary of the ‘State of the Parish’ report, the Plan objectives (including the measures by which its success will be judged in due course), the proposed land use allocations, the proposed Planning policies, the proposed infrastructure investments and a delivery Plan. Prepare draft SEA, comprising a schedule of sustainability objectives and show how each specific proposal measures up against each relevant objective. Where negative sustainability impacts are identified, to indicate how such impacts may be mitigated

Regulation 14 Consultation

Carry out the statutory minimum six weeks public consultation. The Pre Submission Plan and its associated documents such as the draft SEA and Community Right To Build Orders (CRTBO) if being undertaken should be made available electronically via websites as well as in hard copies at vantage locations across the parish/town. Hold drop in session with residents to answer queries and explain reasons for proposed policies.

Collect and log the representations made during the consultation exercise. The Steering Group to the review each representation and propose an appropriate response (either agree and amend or disagree) in a single schedule.

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Your final plan which is the Submission Plan must be submitted with other documents required by the neighbourhood plan regulations. These are:

The Basic Conditions Statement, The Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA), The Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) if required and The Consultation Statement

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Once the final plan is submitted to the Local Planning Authority (LPA) with all the associated documents, it becomes the responsibility of the LPA. The LPA will once satisfied with the plan and all the documents submitted will proceed to publish them for a further six weeks consultation known as the Regulation 16 Consultation. During this period, the LPA will work with the parish or town council to appoint an examiner who will independently examine your plan and all the documents submitted. Some Local Planning Authorities may choose to agree and select the preferred examiner with the parish or town council before the final documents are even submitted.