Town Council postpones decision on neighbourhood plan

Having been urged by Cheshire East Council to reconsider having a neighbourhood plan produced for Wilmslow, the Town Council has decided to postpone any decision until after the May elections.

Neighbourhood plans are planning documents that allow communities to set out their vision for their local area and general planning policies to shape and direct development. They are led and written by the community, not the Council, but have to be in line with the adopted plans of Cheshire East and national policy.

Cheshire East Council asked all local councils if they wanted to make a neighbourhood plan back in July 14, since then 19 communities have decided to go ahead with the project.

Last month Cllr Don Stockton, Cabinet Member for Housing and Jobs, wrote to local councils informing them that Cheshire East has set up a Neighbourhood Planning Task Force to provide support and resources to produce a neighbourhood plan and grants are being made available to communities.

Cllr Don Stockton wrote "In May 2014 the government Secretary of State overruled a recommendation by a Planning Inspector who wanted to allow an appeal for development. He used a Neighbourhood Plan as his reason for doing so and, since then, Cheshire East Council has geared up to support the delivery of neighbourhood plans as they give Cheshire East residents the best protection against unplanned and unsustainable development."

As a result, the Strategic Planning Panel (SPP) of Wilmslow Town Council met at the beginning of the month to review the idea of sponsoring a neighbourhood plan, having agreed back in November 2013 not to proceed with the project as it would be a substantial undertaking, cost a significant amount of money (£50,000 or more was suggested by 'experts' they consulted) and the view from people at the public consultation, held in September 2013, was that "the horse had bolted in terms of the local plan and housing numbers".

Speaking at this month's Town Council meeting, Cllr Martin Watkins said that there is more information available now and Cheshire East Council had previously been opposed to neighbourhood plans but have now reversed their position and advised Wilmslow Town Council that they are willing to provide partial funding and expertise without charge to Wilmslow Town Council.

The SPP considered if the revised views of Cheshire East Council combined with the difficulties experienced by them with the local plan, meant that there was now merit in recommending to Wilmslow Town Council that it would be wise to invest in and sponsor a neighbourhood plan.

They especially considered whether they felt they would be able to influence the Planning Inspectorate in respect of the 400 number of housing in Wilmslow in the Local Plan, which is currently being reviewed by CEC prior to its resubmission in July 2015.

The decision of the SPP and recommendation to Wilmslow Town Council was "After much discussion the SPP decided there was not enough reason to believe a neighbourhood plan would have the required influence on the local plan and the inspector if started now and in its early stages by July. The decision was however to keep the matter under review."

Cllr Gary Barton commented "I think there is a clear direction from government and the Secretary of State that says this could be a document with real influence and the best way to give local people a say on how this town develops because development will happen, whether it's 400 or more houses, and it certainly will be more now because of the direction from Planning Inspectorate.

"So giving local people a view is the most important opportunity that this town council could give and partially funding a local plan would be a strong message that we understand how important to people this issue is. But I think the timing is quite difficult to begin that process, not least because there are three big elections coming up in May, not least for this town council but also for CEC and the government of Westminster which may change the scene entirely which makes it very difficult to begin this process.

"It creates another unknown so I think the best view of the council would be to postpone any decision on whether we support a neighbourhood plan and leave it for a new council. Certainly we couldn't commit to any expenditure for a local plan when we don't know what the scene will be after May. So I would recommend we postpone the decision until after the May election."

Cllr David Jefferay responded "Personally I think it's a wasted opportunity. We've been given the opportunity to speak and I think we should take it, even if it is just planning at this stage,and getting something in place. I think we should grasp it and go ahead."

Cllr Martin Watkins commented "It is not a insignificant cost, we are talking about a minimum of £25,000 of our money never mind what CEC are giving us and at the end of the day you can only argue about 400 houses because you can't argue with the local plan."

Philip Enstone added "Yes it's nice to have and nice to put something in place. It would be nice for people to get involved but the issue I'm still concerned about is the legislation part, it need to be linked to something so it all works together."

Tags:

Neighbourhood Plan, Wilmslow Town Council