Neighbourhood Plan process open to a FOI request?

Question

Our Parish Council initiated the process of a Neighbourhood Plan in late 2018, with a questionnaire sent out to the occupants of the village in January 2019.

Absolutely nothing was heard until mid 2023, when all of a sudden the neighbourhood plan was announced and the consultancy started. The Consultancy was just a day in the village hall where the plan could be viewed.

The NP Action committee was 5 or 6 members, all of whom were on the Parish Council at some point. As far as I am aware there was no invite to apply to join the committee.

The NP came out and to anyone with any knowledge of the village and the persons on the action party could tell it benefited those who produced the plan hugely. Think land over looking their property earmarked as for absolutely no development and a business (gym/health club) that occupies the same road that 3 of the members live on was specifically mentioned in the plan that it would not be permitted to make any further development that would increase traffic. The road is on the outskirts of the village in a manner that 94% of the traffic it generates would not be noticed by anyone living anywhere past the premises.

There are lots of inconsistencies and things included which were not on the questionnaire, such as the style of house signs being required to be in wrought iron. The planning committee commissioned a historical and material report to be included as part of the plan. The company that was commissioned is owned by the chair of the committee!

Following the consultancy, 3 of the planning committee resigned their posts immediately, including the chair.

The initial consultancy that they used to produce the report has refused to work on it any further, so a new person has been brought in. The members of the Planning Committee that were also on the Parish Council resigned their posts, so we have a few new faces on the PC. They have taken it upon themselves to form a working party to continue the process, but are extremely resistant to any questions raised during PC meetings by the public and interested parties.

At no point have any local stakeholders been included in any discussions as per the guidelines for developing a Neighborhood Plan and it all seems very cloak and daggers at night. A few concerned business and land owners are extremely concerned as it seems to have been built with extreme bias, but our concerns are falling on deaf ears.

Would the process be subject to a FOI request? We would at least like to see the evidence which was used to come up with the initial plan. The only evidence submitted was a two page summary of what was a very lengthy questionnaire that they supposedly had over 200 replies to.

Answer 1

The process for developing a neighbourhood development plan is quite specific and culminates (often many many years later) in a plan which must pass a referendum before it can be used as planning guidance.  Before that stage it must be "signed off" by your planning authority and presented to an independent examiner who will not only assess the plan itself but also the methodology used for consultations etc.  If the correct procedures haven't been followed, it will never get to referendum stage.  Personally, I'd let the process take its course.  If you are correct that due process hasn't been followed.  It's not going anywhere.

Comments

Thank you for your time in answering. Will we be informed when it goes through to an independent examiner and will there be an opportunity to air any concerns with them?

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A big part of the process that must be completed( and proven) is consultation and inclusiveness of the community in arriving at conclusions to form the NDP. As said if this does not or has not been done then you don't or won't have an NDP

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They have done a public consultation. It was just a day in the Village Hall where the village plan was posted across the walls and feedback was to be provided online or on postcards at the village hall. They only had 28 responses.

My concern is that they are supposedly now rewriting the plan completely using a new consultant, however they say this new plan will be going straight to the next stage which I guess is referendum, there will be no further consultations.

Answer 2

Technically speaking you should not be able to access the information through the FOI act as environmental information is exempt. You can however use the Environmental Information Regulations which is very similar to FOI.

Even if there is technically a valid exemption that they can use to deny you the information, Parish Councils are not usually experts in FOI/EIR so they might give you the information anyway. Submit your request, the worst that can happen is they say you cannot have the information.
Did the chair vote at the meeting (or remain in the room) where the decision to commission the report was made? If so you may wish to make a complaint to the Monitoring Officer.

Comments

I have no idea, there is no information on the bidding process in any of the documents they have published.

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Have you checked the lists of NDP's registered at your local authority which should showthe to date progress of your NDP and what has been carried out and completed.

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Thanks, I wasn't aware there was a list! I have just checked and it looks like no information has been uploaded as you can see the village name but can't click on it like you can with some of the other ones.

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Whilst I do not disagree with any of the posts in reply to your original enquiry, I would suggest there is an alternative course of action for you ... just sit on your hands and wait ... if your description of the way things have been handled so far is accurate then the process is doomed!

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That has been my action so far. Whenever the subject has been brought up in a PC meeting the committee are very dismissive of any concerns and intimate that there is no more input to be had. I don't want to miss the opportunity to encourage further investigation which may be missed with out context which I suspect would lie in the communications between the original Working Party and the original consultants, hence why I'm thinking and FOI/EIR would reveal them.

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They are my thoughts ... Its obviously your call.

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work out what it is you want to know then submit an EIR.

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Every NDP has to follow a laid down procedure for the PC to form it and ultimately have it passed into planning law. These include proven consultation with the community and gathering expert opinion on such things as boundaries and classification and suitability of land use etc. within the whole parish all of which have to be verified and evidenced to the LA. If your PC have not registered their progress in forming their NDP then there is no NDP.It doesn't exist and has no standing.