The right for communities to prepare Neighbourhood Plans was established through the Localism Act 2011, which set out the general rules governing their preparation. As the Plain English Guide to the Localism Act 2011 states, “Instead of local people being told what to do, the Government thinks that local communities should have genuine opportunities to influence the future of the places where they live”. The Plan covers the whole of the Parish of Glenfield. It sets out a long-term approach for the development of Glenfield Parish and sets outs out clear development-related policies to realise this. In preparing a Neighbourhood Plan a community is not working from a blank piece of paper. Legislation requires that the Plan, and the policies it contains, must be prepared in a prescribed manner; in particular, the policies must be in general conformity with relevant national and district-wide (i.e. Blaby) approved strategic planning policies. Whilst planning applications will still be determined by Blaby District Council, and in special circumstances Leicestershire County Council, the production of a Neighbourhood Plan will mean that they must have regard to the provisions of the Plan and the relevant locally- formulated criteria when reaching planning decisions that affect Glenfield Parish. This means that the residents of the Parish will have far greater control over where development takes place, and what it looks like. It should be noted, however, it is not at the ‘Made’ stage when the provisions of the Plan first need to be taken into account when considering planning decisions by Blaby District Council and others. It is at the submission stage, where the Neighbourhood Plan carries some ‘weight’ in the system. Legislation requires that the more advanced the preparation of the Plan the greater the weight that may be given to its contents.
How the Plan fits into the planning system A Neighbourhood Plan forms part of the Statutory Development Plan for the area in which it is prepared. This statutory status means that it must be taken into account when considering planning decisions affecting that area. One of the main rules governing the preparation of a Neighbourhood Plan is that it must comply with EU regulations on strategic environmental assessment and habitat regulations (despite leaving the EU, these regulations still apply to neighbourhood planning). It must also be in general conformity with national, county and district wide (i.e. Blaby) planning policies. This means that it cannot be prepared in isolation. It will need to take into account, and generally work with, the grain of the district wide and national policies unless there are good reasons for not doing so. At the local level, the key planning document which a Neighbourhood Plan must have regard to is the district-wide Local Plan. In the case of Glenfield, this is the Blaby District Local Plan.
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