Neighbourhood Planning Regulations
On 13th October 2011, the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) released a consultation entitled Neighbourhood planning regulations:Consultation.The consultation set out how the Government proposes to take up the regulation making powers in the Localism Bill for neighbourhood planning and Community Right to Build .The consultation sought views on whether the regulations proposed are workable and proportionate.
ACRE’s response highlighted the need for balance between over-prescription and flexibility within the neighbourhood planning process.However ACRE also expressed concerns that a lack of definitive guidance results in communities finding the process challenging and confusing.Far from improving community cohesion, a poorly understood process could potentially increase tensions
ACRE’s response to the consultation, can be viewed here.
Community Infrastructure Levy
On 10th October 2011, the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) released a consultation entitled Community Infrastructure Levy: Detailed proposals and draft regulations for reform. The consultation explored how a proportion of funds from new development raised through the CIL should be passed onto other bodies, including Parish Councils. ACRE’s response welcomed the principle of local communities receiving money for local infrastructure improvement and thus enable parish and town councils to respond to their very local priorities for the use of CIL, rather than be constrained by the local charging authority priorities for CIL across a wider areas.We also recommend that where communities are preparing to undertake a Community Led Plan or a Neighbourhood Plan, the relevant charging authority should encourage and support them to also consider where CIL receipts could be used to best effect to mitigate the impact of any development.This not only improves the collaborative nature of the decision-making within the community, but provides a clear linkage between accepting development and the resulting CIL monies.
ACRE’s response to the consultation can be viewed here.
National Planning Policy Framework ACRE responded to the consultation on the draft NPPF in October 2011 on behalf of its member organisations in the Rural Community Action Network (RCAN).
RCAN members are charitable local development agencies that provide local support for rural communities throught rural England. They act as a catalyst in generating community led initiatives which enhance the vibrancy, well-being and sustainability of rural communities. Our members specialise in supporting communities to undertake community led planning (parish and town plans) for which the Localism Act measures on neighbourhood Planning will, for the first time, provide a statutory framework.
Our network has a genuine focus on sustainable development, tackling social, economic and environmental needs of local communities in a way that entails positive planning for sustainable change. In particular, the rural housing enablers employed by our members, have worked over may years to encourage communities to recognise local affordable housing needs to achieve solutions which benefit from strong community support.
Download ACRE's response to this consultation.
Community Right to Buy – Assets of Community Value
ACRE supports the principle of the registering assets of community value. However, in the experience of our network, it has the potential to create difficulties within a community over conflicting aspirations, not least between the site owner and the group trying to preserve the asset.Local and independent facilitation will be a necessary intervention to avoid such issues creating long lasting and unwanted consequences.
There also needs to be better integration between individual Localism Act measures (for instance, listing of assets of community value within a neighbourhood plan). New measures should be integrated and work hand in hand with existing approaches to empowerment, building on what exists, rather than inventing something new.
The main points of our response are;
Q1: National regulations should set out the list of criteria proposed in the consultation, but the weighting attached to each could vary locally.
Q2:Regulations should require local authorities to give due weight to four factors in particular within any locally defined criteria:
- Strength of community support
- Statutory provisions relating to the land
- Impact on the community of the loss of the site
- History of the site and previous attempts by the community to acquire it.
Q3:Sites that have potential future use of value to the community should NOT be excluded, since this is the way many community initiatives could be brought to fruition.Furthermore, restricting nominations to current uses will act as a deterrent to a site owner offering the community use of the premises because that would carry the risk of being ‘listed’ in future.
Ancillary use of a site by the community must be included as a justification for listing.
Q4: Other factors that should be included in national regulations are:
- A system for temporary emergency listing to prevent demolition with an interim period during which a full nomination can be mounted
- Prohibition of demolition (through this measure or in revisions to planning law) for a site that has been listed
- Enabling a community to nominate one part of a site which relates to the value the community places on it, rather unnecessarily restricting disposal of the whole site.
We would also stress that community support will eventually need volunteering offers to ensure viability of the asset if it is eventually acquired.The expression of interest should be more than a vague desire to retain an asset without putting effort into its acquisition.
Community led Planning is the traditional catalyst for rural communities to consider asset acquisition, and has the benefit of generating the required volunteers, via the process,to make the proposal sustainable in the long run.
Download ACRE Consultation Response Community Right to Buy – Assets of Community Value
