Agenda item

Report of the Director: Economy and Environment

The Director: Economy and Environment submitted a report informing Council that the Worlaby Parish Neighbourhood Plan met the requirements of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and recommending therefore, that it be adopted by North Lincolnshire Council. (The ‘Final Decision Statement’ attached as an appendix refers).

The Director in her report explained that Neighbourhood planning enabled communities to play a much stronger role in shaping the areas in which they lived and worked and in supporting new development proposals. Applications for planning permission must be determined in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

The Worlaby Parish Neighbourhood Plan had been developed by a core of Working Group members led by the Parish Council. The Plan could be accessed through the link: Worlaby Parish Neighbourhood Plan - Final Plan. The local community was engaged throughout the process during several consultation events, questionnaires, surveys, and Visioning Day. Following submission of the final Draft Neighbourhood Plan to North Lincolnshire Council it was advertised and published for a six-week consultation and subsequently submitted for examination.

In his report on the Neighbourhood Plan the Examiner stated that the Plan and supporting material was the result of a great deal of work on the part of the local community led by the Working Group and the Parish Council. The Plan was a clear, concise, and professional document which would provide an effective guide to future development within the Parish. Worlaby was to be congratulated for the collaborative approach to working with North Lincolnshire Council and the effective manner in which the local community had been encouraged to express its aspirations and concerns about the future of the village. The Examiner made recommendations to modify policies and text to ensure the Plan meets legal requirements. Once modified, the Plan should proceed to referendum. The Plan was taken to referendum where local people were asked to vote on whether they agreed with the following statement: “Do you want North Lincolnshire Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Worlaby Parish to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?”. The referendum met the requirements of the Localism Act 2011.

At the referendum more than 50 per cent of those who voted were in favour of the above statement. As such, and in accordance with the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, the Council must now ‘make’ (formally adopt) the Neighbourhood Plan. Although a Neighbourhood Plan comes into force as part of the statutory development plan once it has been approved at referendum, an Order must be made by the local authority before it has effect. However, Section 70(2) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) provides that a local planning authority must have regard to a post-examination draft Neighbourhood Plan for the purpose of it being used to help determine planning applications.

The council’s Planning Committee of 17 November 2021 resolved to recommend the Worlaby Parish Neighbourhood Plan for adoption by Council in line with the Final Decision Statement attached at appendix 1.

Resolved – (a) That the report be noted, and (b) that the Worlaby Parish Neighbourhood Plan be approved and adopted.