Community Plans: guidance for Parish and Town Councils

1. What is a Local Development Framework (LDF)?
2. What are Community Plans?
3. How can our Community Plan feed into the LDF?
4. Matters that cannot be taken on through a Community Plan Supplementary Planning Document (SPD)
5. The Adoption of SPD
6. Time Frames – The Production of Community Plans

1. What is a Local Development Framework?

The Local Plan is being replaced by a Local Development Framework (LDF). The LDF will comprise a series of evidence-based ‘local development documents’. These include Development Plan Documents and Supplementary Planning Documents, all of which must undergo full consultation and sustainability appraisal, prior to their adoption by The Council. The new planning system aims to:

• be more responsive to changing circumstances
• Increase community involvement throughout the plan making process
• project manage the work and ensure that targets are set and achieved

As part of the new scheme each planning authority must produce a ‘Local Development Scheme’; in this document the preparation of all proposed ‘local development documents’ is outlined. Section 2.7 of the Hart District Council Local Development Scheme outlines the approach to Supplementary Planning Documents.

2. What are Community Plans?

The term ‘Community Plan’ refers to a number of different initiatives:

Parish Plan - Parish Plans are “holistic” or comprehensive in scope. They should set out a vision for how the community wants to develop, and identify the action needed to achieve it. They can include everything that is relevant

to the people who live and work in the community, from employment and playgrounds to the design of new buildings and protection of hedges and ponds. They can include any social, environmental or economic issues. It is up to you, the community, to decide what is important to you.

Village Design Statements – A Village Design Statement (VDS) describes the qualities and characteristics that people value in their village and its surroundings. It sets out clear and simple guidance for the design of all development in the village, based on character. It will not stop development and change from happening, but it will help to influence how new development fits into the village.

Market Town Health Check - A market town healthcheck:

• allows local people to identify the economic, environmental and social strengths and weaknesses of a market town and its surrounding countryside
• helps people identify the impact of changing local circumstances
• is a sound basis for creating an action plan for revitalisation.

A healthcheck not only covers the whole town and its surroundings, but enables people to look at a wide range of connected issues that affect the quality of life. A healthcheck can lead to a vision for the future of the town, from which a plan of action can be prepared.

3. How can our Community Plan feed into the LDF?

Community Plans have two potential roles to play within the Local Development Framework.

Firstly, they offer a very useful source of community led opinions and ideas for how their local village or town should be in the future. Parish Plans and health check studies often identify the problems people perceive in their area, and then seek solutions. In many cases these issues will be common throughout the District, such as the need for affordable housing, but other more local issues may arise which would otherwise go unnoticed (See below – matters that cannot be taken on through an SPD).

Secondly, Hart intends to produce and adopt a series of Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD) informed by and based upon relevant content in local community plans. This will include appropriate land use and spatial components of plans produced by parishes. All the matters covered in a Community Plan SPD proposed for adoption must relate to policies in a Development Plan Document or a saved policy in a development plan.  

Collaborative working between Hart District Council and the parishes will ensure the land use and spatial components can be incorporated into an SPD, and issues such as sustainability appraisal (SA) and public consultation are properly addressed.

4. What about matters that cannot be taken on through the Community Plan SPDs?

It is recognised that not all parts of a Community Plan will be suitable for inclusion in an SPD. However, there will be elements that will be relevant to the activities of other departments of the council and other public bodies. As such, those elements may be able to inform other, non-planning strategies. Hart’s Community Planning Officer will assist you by facilitating contact with the appropriate department within the District and other public bodies.

5. The Adoption of SPD

As completed Community Plans emerge, Hart intends to prepare the corresponding SPD. Until such time as the LDF Core Strategy is adopted, it is intended to prepare the SPD and put it forward for adoption by the District Council as being in conformity with saved policies from the Adopted Hart District Council Local Plan 1996 – 2006.

6. Time Frames – The Production of Community Plans

A number of Parishes have asked the District Council what the timescale for the submission of a Community Plans is; the timescale for the completion of a Community Plan is up to the community. All the different types of Community Plan are an opportunity for a community to work together to collect the representative views, opinions and ideas of all local people to identify key facilities and services, to set out the problems that need to be tackled and to demonstrate how distinctive characters and features could be preserved. It is assumed that they will normally be adopted by the relevant parish councils to inform their own decision making and projects across a range of issues. As such, completion will be when the communities have completed the process of which ever type of plan they have decided to do.

However, the completion of your Community Plan has many benefits and when thinking about timescales it is important to keep these benefits in mind:

• Creates a real sense of community spirit
• Provides clear evidence of community needs and priorities.
• Provides an action plan for the parish/town council to adopt and action.
• Enables easier access into funding streams.
• Highlights projects which need involvement from other agencies
• Encourages partnership working

Once you have your evidence and know what your actions are the Community Planning officer will be able to help you make the appropriate contacts.

• To inform the Community Strategy – Strategy setting out how the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) will tackle priority issues facing the district.

The LSP will only know about your issues when they have received a copy of your Community Plan.

• To inform the Local Development Framework –The portfolio of Local Development documents which sets out the planning policy framework for the district.

The District cCouncil will not be able to start the process of preparing the corresponding SPD until we receive your completed Community Plan.

June 06 Hart District Council

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