Neighbourhood Planning

Since May 2011, the Rural Community Council of Essex (RCCE) has been working with the Essex Planning Officers Association and the Community Led Planning Officer Network to produce a practical step by step guide through the process.

The guide explains the technical requirements of each step, provides links to additional information and sets out the support available to community groups, by RCCE and other organisations.

Parish plans and village design statements

A parish plan (PP) sets out the vision for how your local community wants to develop and identifies the actions needed to achieve it. It can include everything that is relevant to you, from employment to playgrounds to the design of new buildings and protection of hedges and ponds.  You can include any social, environmental or economic issues.  It is up to your local community to decide what is important.

A village design statement (VDS) is a document describing the qualities and characteristics that your local community values in its village and surroundings. It sets out clear and simple guidance for the design of all development in the village. You cannot use a VDS to stop new development, but you can use it to influence developers and Maldon District Council to ensure that new buildings respect and reflect local character.

Parish plans village design statements: position statement

Maldon District Council supports community led planning (parish plans and village design statements) in order to encourage community empowerment and the growth of community spirit. Parish plans can help communities access funding for community projects and improvements.

PPs and VDSs can add value to the planning process when used as evidence to influence and steer policy development. The importance of local knowledge in the planning process is readily acknowledged. Government guidance states (in PPS 12 'Local Spatial Planning') that "Councils should pay close attention to the contents of non statutory parish and community plans as part of their community involvement in the production of the LDF".

Formally adopting a village design statement or a parish plan as a supplementary planning document (SPD) requires a policy to which an SPD could refer. At the moment Maldon District Council does not have such a suitable adopted policy in its adopted local plan or the new LDF system, which will replace the local plan. Consequently, it is not possible for parish plans and village design statements to form an adopted part of formal planning requirements at this stage. Nevertheless, they remain invaluable documents for the development of the LDF and planning in general.

Parish plans and village design statements are useful tools for parishes to use when responding to statutory consultations and when making representations on planning applications. Whilst they cannot be supplementary planning documents at this stage, they should be used when parish or town councils submit comment in respect of specific applications. The District Council will take careful note of such comments when determining applications.