Purpose

Purpose
 

1.      
The purpose of this report is to agree the
Council’s response to the public consultation on the
submission version of the Thriplow and
Heathfield Neighbourhood Plan. The consultation closes on 30
September 2024 at 5pm.
 

Background
 

2.      
The Thriplow and Heathfield
Neighbourhood Area was designated on 25 August 2017. The
neighbourhood area is for the whole parish of Thriplow and Heathfield. 

 

3.      
Officers have met with the Parish Council ahead of
the submission consultation process and recognise the hard work
that has been put into preparing the plan. The Parish Council
has worked hard to engage with the local
community and has ensured that they have had an opportunity to
input into the final plan.
 

4.      
A Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and
Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) screening was undertaken on a
draft version of the Neighbourhood Plan, and a screening
determination was published in June 2022. 
 

5.      
Pre-submission public consultation on the draft
Neighbourhood Plan was undertaken by the Parish Council
from30 January 2023 to 14 March 2023.
Officers provided a formal response to the consultation, providing
constructive comments about the plan to assist the Parish Council
with finalising the Neighbourhood Plan. Officers have met with the
Parish Council to discuss these comments and are aware that the
submission version of the plan has taken on board many of the
suggested changes.
 

6.      
On 3 June 2024,
Thriplow and Heathfield Parish
Council submitted their Neighbourhood Plan to South Cambridgeshire
District Council. Officers have confirmed, as set out in the Legal
Compliance Check for the Neighbourhood Plan, that the submitted
version of the Neighbourhood Plan and its accompanying supporting
documents comply with all the relevant statutory requirements at
this stage of plan making. The Neighbourhood Plan and its accompanying supporting documents
are published on our
website.
 

7.      
We therefore were able to carry out a consultation
on the Thriplow and Heathfield
Neighbourhood Plan from 5
August until 30 September 2024.

 

8.      
Officers, in conjunction with Thriplow and Heathfield Parish
Council, are in the process of appointing an independent examiner
to consider this Neighbourhood Plan. All comments submitted during
the public consultation on the submission version of the
Neighbourhood Plan will be provided to the examiner for their
consideration.
 

Considerations

 

9.      
The Thriplow and
HeathfieldNeighbourhood Plan has been
prepared by Thriplow and
HeathfieldParish Council to provide
planning policies for development in the area, with the aim of
providing greater clarity when determining planning applications in
the area. The Neighbourhood Plan includes 15 planning policies
(although we recommend in our submission plan response that 1 is
removed and included as a community aspiration); the policies cover
a range of issues including:

(i)            
Residential development

(ii)           
Employment (supporting the rural economy)

(iii)          
Local Green Spaces

(iv)         
Village Character

(v)           
Climate change

(vi)         
Biodiversity

(vii)        
Rural exception sites

(viii)       
Road safety and parking

(ix)         
Travel Networks and connections
 

10.   
To successfully proceed through its examination to a
referendum, a Neighbourhood Plan must meet a number of tests known
as the ‘Basic Conditions’. These tests are different to
the tests of soundness that a Local Plan must meet. The

Basic Conditions are set out in
national planning guidance and are summarised as
follows:

a)   
having regard to national policies and advice
contained in guidance issued by the Secretary of State it is
appropriate to make the Neighbourhood Plan.

b)   
the making of the Neighbourhood Plan contributes to
the achievement of sustainable development.

c)    
the Neighbourhood Plan is in general conformity with
the strategic policies contained in the development plan for the
area.

d)   
the making of the Neighbourhood Plan does not
breach, and is otherwise compatible with, EU
obligations.

e)   
prescribed conditions are met in relation to the
Neighbourhood Plan, including that the making of the neighbourhood
plan is not likely to have a significant effect on a European
wildlife site or a European offshore marine site either alone or in
combination with other plans or projects.

f)     
the making of the neighbourhood development plan
does not breach the requirements of Chapter 8 of Part 6 of the
Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017.

11.   
Our Neighbourhood Planning Toolkit includes Guidance Note 11
(What
are the Basic Conditions and How to Meet Them), which
sets out further details on each of the Basic Conditions. When a
Neighbourhood Plan is submitted to the local planning authority it
must be accompanied by a Basic Conditions Statement that sets out
how the Parish Council considers that their Neighbourhood Plan
meets the Basic Conditions.

 

12.   
When considering a Neighbourhood Plan, the examiner
will assess whether or not the Neighbourhood Plan
meets the Basic Conditions. When an
examiner recommends that the Neighbourhood Plan should proceed to
referendum (if it meets the Basic Conditions, with or without
modifications), the examiner’s report must also set out
whether the referendum area should be extended beyond the
neighbourhood area. Comments made during the current consultation
on the submission version of the Neighbourhood Plan, which will be
provided to the examiner for their consideration, should therefore
address whether the submitted Neighbourhood Plan meets the Basic
Conditions and can also address whether the referendum area should
be extended beyond the neighbourhood area.

 

13.   
South Cambridgeshire District Council is fully
supportive of parish councils bringing forward neighbourhood plans
for their areas, including Thriplow and
Heathfield Parish Council’s decision to
prepare a Neighbourhood Plan, and officers have been supporting
the Parish Council in the
plan’s preparation. The Council’s proposed response to
this public consultation on the submission version of the
Neighbourhood Plan is set out in Appendix A.
 

14.   
South Cambridgeshire District Council is supportive
of the aims of the Thriplow and
Heathfield Neighbourhood Plan and our
comments are intended to help the plan to be successful at
examination as well as delivering policies that are clear
in their meaning and are unambiguous
in their interpretation. South Cambridgeshire District Council
recognise the achievement of Thriplow and
Heathfield Parish Council in reaching this
stage of submitting their plan to us for
examination.
 
If the
examiner is minded to recommend that the Neighbourhood Plan should
proceed to referendum, the Council does not feel that the
referendum area needs to be extended beyond the designated
Neighbourhood Area as the planning policies
included in the plan would not have a substantial, direct or
demonstrable impact beyond the Neighbourhood Area.

Content

That
the Lead Cabinet Member for Planning agrees the response to the
submission consultation on the Thriplow and
Heathfield Neighbourhood Plan as set out in
Appendix A.