Neighbourhood Development Plan

Tuesday 14th June

Referendum on the Adoption of the Melbourne Neighbourhood Development Plan

A referendum will be held on Thursday, 7th July 2022 to decide on the question below:

'Do you want South Derbyshire to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Melbourne to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?'

Volunteers started work on the Neighbourhood Development Pin 2014 on behalf of the Parish Council in response to concerns about the amount of development taking place in Melbourne.

Between 2014 and 2016, drop in sessions were held at Melbourne Assembly Rooms for residents to say what they would like to see in a Neighbourhood Plan. All the suggestions were collated and turned into draft policies, either relating to development, or to Community Aspirations.

These policies were then built into a Draft Neighbourhood Plan and in 2017, a Residents Questionnaire was sent to all residents to say whether they approved of the policies, or wanted changes. The results from that survey were incorporated into the plan and it was finally submitted to the Planning Inspector last year.

He had some questions on the draft plan which the Parish Council answered. They responded with final changes which the Planning Inspector agreed, and SDDC have now sent out voting cards to enable the referendum to take place on 7^th July in the normal polling stations.

You can find the plan, and details of all the consultations which took place below, and there is a copy in the library.

Friday 8th October 2021:

In accordance with Regulation 16 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012, South Derbyshire District Council is required to publicise the Melbourne Neighbourhood Development Plan and invite comments from organisations and individuals. The consultation will run for six weeks, closing at 5pm on Friday 19 November 2021.

If you wish to respond, please click here and complete the representation form provided by South Derbyshire District Council.

Neighbourhood planning was introduced under the Localism Act in 2011 and enabled communities such as ours to play a much stronger role in shaping the areas in which we live and work and in supporting new development proposals. Unlike the parish plan, a neighbourhood plan forms part of the development plan and sits alongside the local plan prepared by the local planning authority, in our case this is South Derbyshire District Council (SDDC). Decisions on planning applications will be made by SDDC using both the local plan and the adopted neighbourhood plan and any other material considerations.

Neighbourhood planning provides the opportunity for our community to set out a positive vision for how we want our community to develop over the next 10, 15, 20 years, to develop in ways that meet identified local need and makes sense for local people. The NDP can put in place planning policies that will help deliver that vision or grant planning permission for the development we want to see. It is a positive, constructive plan, it is not a document to say what is not wanted.

It is up to local communities to choose to prepare an NDP if they wish, not the District Council. This is optional – communities do not have to prepare a plan, Melbourne Parish Council saw the potential and benefits of such a plan and started the process in 2014. There have been several set backs and delays along the way but the process is back on track and our plan has now been submitted to the District Council for formal examination. If it is approved by the examiners, it will lead on to adoption through a local referendum.

The link below explains the processes involved from conception to adoption of a NDP:

https://www.local.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/legal-compliance-guide-pr-dc9.pdf

How NDP works:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/neighbourhood-planning--2