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Neighbourhood planning

Neighbourhood planning

Arborfield and Barkham Neighbourhood Plan

Arborfield and Barkham Parish Councils submitted their proposed Neighbourhood Plan to Wokingham Borough Council in May 2019. The plan sets out a vision and objectives for the future of the area and contains planning policies to guide the development and use of land in Arborfield and Barkham parishes.

In line with legislation a 6 week consultation on the proposed Plan was carried out between 8 July and 19 August 2019. The Council appointed an independent examiner who received copies of all the documentation and representations received and undertook the examination of the plan in September and October 2019. The Examination Report is now available to view in the Arborfield and Barkham Neighbourhood Plan tab below, which contains for further details of the progress to date. The next step will be for the Council to decide what changes to make to the plan at a meeting of Executive on 28 November 2019. 

 The process of preparing a Neighbourhood Plan

Neighbourhood plans are the result of a community working together with us to decide how their local area should develop and grow in the future. The Localism Act (2011) introduces neighbourhood planning. Neighbourhood plans must be in general conformity with the policies of the Local Plan for their area and they should plan positively to support it. As a first step, an application must be submitted to us to designate a Neighbourhood Area. See our Designated Neighbourhood Areas map (PDF document) 

When a draft Neighbourhood Plan has been produced it has to be submitted for formal examination in front of an Planning Inspector. If the plan is found to be 'sound' it will then be the subject of a local referendum, if the referendum agrees to the plan we will then adopt the Neighbourhood Plan as part of the Local Plan for the area.

More details 

More information on neighbourhood planning, including frequently asked questions, can be found on the Communities and Local Government Neighbourhood Planning website.

Shinfield Neighbourhood Plan Referendum

Following an independent examination and referendum, Wokingham Borough Council’s Executive has brought the Shinfield Neighbourhood Plan into legal force and therefore the Neighbourhood Plan becomes part of the Council’s Development Plan and will be given full weight in the determination of all planning applications within Shinfield Parish.

A copy of the Shinfield Neighbourhood Plan and appendices can be found below

 

Hard copies of the Decision Statement are available to view at:

  • Wokingham Borough Council, Shute End, Wokingham, Berkshire, RG40 1WP (9am to 5pm Monday to Friday)
  • Shinfield Parish Council Office, Shinfield Parish Hall, School Green, Shinfield, Berkshire, RG2 9EH (9am to 12pm Monday to Friday)
  • Wokingham Library, Denmark Street, Wokingham, Berkshire, RG40 2BB (Monday 9.30am to 7pm, Tuesday 9.30am to 5pm, Wednesday 9.30am to 1pm, Thursday 9.30am to 8pm, Friday 9.30am to 4pm, Saturday 9.30am to 4pm)

Previous stages of the Shinfield Neighbourhood Plan Process

Shinfield Parish was designated as a Neighbourhood Area in 2012.

As part of the Regulation 16 publication, a consultation on the Draft Neighbourhood Plan took place between 4 April and 16 May 2016. A summary of the representations received can be found below

Please note: The table of representations is a summary, so comments will not be verbatim. All the original representation documents were submitted to the independent Examiner for review, pursuant to paragraph 9 of Schedule 4B to the 1990 Act.

The Examiner’s final report concluded that the plan should proceed to referendum subject to the recommended changes being made. You can read the report below

A referendum relating to the Shinfield Neighbourhood plan was held on Thursday 8 December 2016. People living in Shinfield Parish who are registered to vote in local elections were entitled to vote in the referendum, which was conducted following similar procedures to those used at local government elections.

The question asked in the referendum was

Do you want Wokingham Borough Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Shinfield Parish to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?"

A total of 87 percent of people who voted in the referendum voted Yes to this question and so Wokingham Borough Council took steps to adopt the Neighbourhood Plan in the Council’s Executive meeting on 26 January 2017.

Additional documents


More details

More details can be found on the Shinfield Neighbourhood Plan website.

Arborfield and Barkham Draft Neighbourhood Plan Examination

Arborfield and Barkham Parish Councils have been working on a neighbourhood plan for a number of years and submitted their proposed Neighbourhood Plan to Wokingham Borough Council in May 2019. The Plan aims to manage the development coming forward in the area to better reflect the wishes of the community and take greater account of what makes the area special to them. The Plan, if adopted, will be used to help determine all planning applications within the parishes.

In line with legislation, a 6 week consultation was undertaken on the submission Plan between 8 July and 19 August 2019. The Council appointed Liz Beth to undertake the examination of the plan. All comments received during the consultation period were sent to, and considered by, the examiner whose role was to consider whether the Plan meets a set of prescribed 'basic conditions' and other legal requirements. Further information on the 'basic conditions' can be found in the National Planning Practice Guidance on the Gov.uk website. The examiner has concluded that, subject to a number of modifications, the plan meets the basic conditions and should proceed to referendum. The Examination report is available to view below. Having regard to the examiner's justification, and the need to ensure the plan meets the 'basic conditions' the council must decide whether it agrees the proposed changes should be made. This decision will be taken by the council's Executive on 28 November 2019.

 

The submitted Arborfield and Barkham Neighbourhood Plan, associated documents, and a summary of the representations received during the 6 week consultation, can be viewed from the links below:

Further documents supporting the plan can be found on the Arborfield and Barkham Neighbourhood Plan website.

The examination is provisionally set to take place over September 2019. As the examination progresses, updates will be published on this page accordingly.  
  

Previous progress on the Arborfield and Barkham Neighbourhood Plan

Arborfield and Newland and Barkham Parishes were designated as a Neighbourhood Area on 31 July 2014, following the consultation period 17 April to 30 May 2014.

Documents:


More details

More details can be found on the  Arborfield and Barkham Neighbourhood Plan website.

Ruscombe Parish Council Neighbourhood Area Designation

Ruscombe Parish was designated as a Neighbourhood Area on 25 January 2018, following the consultation period 11 December 2017 to 12 January 2018. 

Read the documents

The relevant documents are found below.

St Nicholas Hurst Parish Area Designation

St Nicholas Hurst Parish was designated as a Neighbourhood Area on 10 April 2018 following the decision by the Council’s Executive on 29 March 2018. 

Read the Documents

The relevant documents can be found below.

Twyford Parish Area Designation

Twyford Parish was designated as a Neighbourhood Area on 6 August 2018 following the decision by the Council’s Executive on 26 July 2018. 

Read the documents 

The relevant documents can be found below:

Wokingham Without Parish Area Designation

Wokingham Without Parish was designated as a Neighbourhood Area on 6 August 2018 following the decision by the Council’s Executive on 26 July 2018. 

Read the documents 

The relevant documents can be found below:

Finchampstead Parish Area Designation

Finchampstead Parish was designated as a Neighbourhood Area on 12 March 2019. 

Read the documents 

The relevant documents can be found below:

Sonning Parish Area Designation

Sonning Parish was designated as a Neighbourhood Area on 24 October 2019. 

Read the documents 

The relevant documents can be found below:

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