Communities across England are set to benefit from a package of
support worth £22.8 million to help them develop plans to give
them a real say in the development of their area.
Housing Minister confirmed how the cash boost
will support communities, help build more homes and give locals
more say over growth in their area.
The funding, which will be around £5.5 million per year until
2022, will provide communities with specialist support to help
develop a Neighbourhood Plan.
Neighbourhood Plans gives local communities a real say in the
development of their area including where homes, shops, green
spaces and offices should be built and how they should look.
The announcement comes as more than 400 successful neighbourhood
planning referendums have now taken place across England, driving
local growth from Cornwall to Northumberland.
Housing and Planning Minister said:
Neighbourhood planning gives communities a powerful set of tools
to shape their area and drive local growth.
The government is committed to giving communities even more of a
say in the development of their area, and that’s why we’re
dedicating around £23 million between 2018 and 2022 to help
groups create Neighbourhood Plans.
With over 400 now in place more people than ever are having their
say on the location and design of new homes, shops and offices in
their community. I congratulate the many thousands of community
minded people across England carrying out this valuable work.
Trudi Elliott, Royal Town Planning Institute Chief Executive,
said:
Having worked directly with over 274 groups to help them develop
neighbourhood plans since their inception, the RTPI knows how
much people care about these plans and how important they are in
shaping places and building public trust in the planning system.
It’s also clear from our experience that people need support to
make the plan-making experience easier and worthwhile, so this
latest funding is very welcome.
The government’s housing white paper published in February 2017
set out measures to give local people more of a say over
development in their area and build the right homes in the right
places.
The white paper committed to continue to support neighbourhood
planning groups so they can access essential support to allocate
sites for housing and to plan for better designs in their area.
Following the housing white paper, a further raft of measures to
improve neighbourhood planning will be implemented later this
year, as the Neighbourhood Planning Act comes into effect. This
includes new rules to speed up and strengthen the popular
neighbourhood planning process by simplifying how plans can be
revised as local circumstances change.
Further information
Since 2012, over 2,200 groups have started the neighbourhood
planning process, covering areas of nearly 12 million people
across England. Over 400 successful neighbourhood planning
referendums have now taken place, with an average ‘yes’ vote of
88%.
The Neighbourhood Planning Act received Royal Assent in April
2017, and contains measures improving the planning system to help
deliver the government’s aim of making sure the housing market
works for everyone.
In July 2017 Neighbourhood Planning Act reforms came into force
to ensure the plans local people have worked hard to create are
used as the starting point for determining planning applications
up to 8 weeks earlier, following a successful referendum. The
changes also mean that when local authorities are making planning
decisions, they must respect emerging neighbourhood plans which
have passed examination but not yet been agreed at a referendum.
