I am, to my very core, a localist. Which is why it was such a source of pride to see Marnhull’s Neighbourhood Plan adopted in April. Here was the community I represent taking charge of its own future. A huge amount of time and effort went into the plan’s development, and I was delighted to support it. But vastly more importantly, some 92% of parishioners who voted in the neighbourhood plan referendum supported it too.
For those who don’t know, a Neighbourhood Plan is a document that can be prepared by communities in order to shape development in their local area. It must be in conformity with the Local Plan – the planning document devised by the local authority – but within those parameters, it provides a brilliant opportunity for towns and villages to have a decisive say on their futures.
A well constituted plan enables a community to say what forms of development they would welcome: what aesthetic qualities it should have, how that development ought to fit in with the characteristics of a settlement, and what heritage interests it must respect and conserve. When formally adopted, they are a statutory planning document, which means planning officers, inspectors and applicants all have to take them into account. They are a vital instrument in the local democracy toolbox.
Or at least they were.
An unwelcome direction
For all my pride and excitement about Marnhull adopting its neighbourhood plan, I have a nagging anxiety that the current Government isn’t particularly dedicated to the idea that local people should have a say in how their communities change and grow.
It has cut funding for neighbourhood planning. It has changed the National Planning Policy Framework so that. in practice, the imperative to deliver a higher number of new homes now overrides most other policy considerations when it comes to determining a planning application. And it has demanded that councils like Dorset meet substantial, centrally-set housing targets – even while housing delivery languishes in cities with higher levels of demand, like London.
All of this is troubling, and there is a limit to how much local authorities can alter the unwelcome direction this government is heading in. Nevertheless, councils do still have considerable purchase on the planning system, and I want to see Dorset become a leader among local authorities in community-led planning.
Soon, it will have the opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to the county’s communities when it forms its Local Plan. But it risks rendering the numerous Neighbourhood Plans adopted in recent years immediately redundant. It is vital that provisions are made to ensure that this does not happen, and as many as possible are properly incorporated into our strategy for future development in Dorset.
That would be a real display of intent to communities like mine. So would greater financial support for neighbourhood planning. If national government won’t put its money where its mouth is when it comes to localism, why doesn’t Dorset Council?
No one doubts that we need to deliver more homes. But surely local people ought to have a significant voice in the conversation about what sort of homes are built in their area, and where. Neighbourhood Plans make this possible. They give new development or housebuilding legitimacy. And they deserve the council’s support, even if the Government seems uninterested in them.
James Vitali is the Councillor for the Stalbridge, Marnhull and Stourton Caundle Ward.
