Neighbourhood Plan

What is a Neighbourhood Plan?

Neighbourhood planning gives communities direct power to develop a shared vision for their neighbourhood and shape the development and growth of their local area. They are able to choose where they want new homes, shops and offices to be built, have their say on what those new buildings should look like and what infrastructure should be provided, and grant planning permission for the new buildings they want to see go ahead. Neighbourhood planning provides a powerful set of tools for local people to plan for the types of development to meet their community’s needs and where the ambition of the neighbourhood is aligned with the strategic needs and priorities of the wider local area.

Local communities can choose to:

• set planning policies through a neighbourhood plan that forms part of the development plan used in determining planning applications.
• grant planning permission through Neighbourhood Development Orders and Community Right to Build Orders for specific development which complies with the order.

Neighbourhood planning is not a legal requirement but a right which communities in England can choose to use. Communities may decide that they could achieve the outcomes they want to see through other planning routes, such as incorporating their proposals for the neighbourhood into the local plan, or through other planning mechanisms such as Local Development Orders and supplementary planning documents or through pre-application consultation on development proposals. Communities and local planning authorities should discuss the different choices communities have to achieving their ambitions for their neighbourhood.

The Parish Council is in the process of consulting on the needs and desires for a neighbourhood plan to cover the villages of Buckhorn Weston, Kington Magna, Nyland, Sandley and Quarr. Go to the Neighbourhood Plan Notes and Reports page to catch-up on all the activities so far.

Neighbourhood Plan Boundary Consultation

Meeting to be held in Buckhorn Weston Village Hall from 10am until 12 noon and Kington Magna Village Hall from 2pm until 4pm on Saturday 22nd October 2022.

Following an earlier consultation, survey and public meetings, the Neighbourhood Plan Steering group has worked to identify proposed settlement boundaries to the villages of Buckhorn Weston & Kington Magna.

The main purpose of setting a boundary is to define the area of built settlement within which some limited development can occur. The main benefit is that small development can take place, utilising existing infrastructure. It also means that small amounts of new development in rural settings avoid village sprawl. In so far that any local services are available, this type of development improves the prospect of access to them on foot.

This consultation is being undertaken to inform local residents of the draft proposed boundaries. Further work is being undertaken to develop policies to control development inside the settlement boundaries, for example in relation to infill and garden development. An opinion poll questionnaire was active during October and November 2022 and the results can be found on the Notes and Reports page in due course.