Another neighbourhood plan to go to local referendum
A parish council has reached an important milestone in the production of its neighbourhood plan and will now go out to a local referendum.
Over the past five years Coggeshall Parish Council has been working to create its draft neighbourhood plan and have taken it through a successful public consultation and an examination in front of an independent examiner. The examiner’s report can be found here.
The examiner has recommended a number of modifications within his report but has concluded that the plan meets all the necessary legal requirements.
His modifications focus on changes to some policies in the plan which are needed for it to be adopted, and that the modified plan can proceed to referendum. A date for the referendum will be announced next year.
If more than 50 per cent of those voting in the referendum vote in favour of adopting the plan it will be adopted by Braintree District Council and used for determining planning applications in the parish.
Cllr Gabrielle Spray, Cabinet Member for Planning at Braintree District Council, said: “Neighbourhood planning is all about giving our local communities the power and influence to shape the way its area develops. Getting to this stage is the result of a lot of hard work, time and energy from the parish council.”
Peter Kohn, Chair of the Coggeshall Neighbourhood Plan sub-committee of the planning committee of Coggeshall Parish Council, said: “Coggeshall is a great place and community to live in and the group who developed the neighbourhood plan wanted to enhance and give it protections in planning law. We were very pleased that the Planning Inspector recognised the amount and quality of work and consultation that went into the draft plan, and recommended it to go forward to referendum. We are grateful for the help and support given by Braintree District Council, our advisors David Coleman and team and Coggeshall Parish Council, and of course, the small and dedicated team of villagers who put the plan together.”
Three neighbourhood plans have been adopted so far in the Braintree District.