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Blyth Town Council Chambers

Neighbourhood Plan

Neigbourhood Plan Consultation 2023/2024

Consultation 20234/2024

Response Form 

 


Blyth Town Council invites residents to help shape Blyth's future

20/06/2022

Blyth Neighbourhood Plan - we need your views on what we should include in our plan

We have started work on our neighbourhood plan and we need your help to identify what planning policies and land allocations we should include in our plan. As Northumberland County Council has recently adopted a local plan for Northumberland county, we don’t need to repeat policies that are already included within it. We are also unable to include policies that conflict with the local plan. Planning policies and allocations can only relate to matters that require planning permission.

Neighbourhood plans can also include wider community aspirations that do not need planning permission such as public transport provision, parking management and tackling incidents of antisocial behaviour.

We have prepared an issues consultation document to help us gather views from the local community and other stakeholders on the scope of our plan.
You can download it here - Blyth Neighbourhood Plan Issues Consultation

What happens next?

Feedback was requested by 20 July 2022.  Once we have considered the feedback, we will establish a small steering group to guide the preparation of the plan. The town council will determine the membership of the steering group once the scope of the plan has been agreed.

Further work will then be undertaken to develop the evidence to support policies and allocations in our plan. Depending on the issues that we are looking to address we may need to undertake further early engagement before we publish a draft neighbourhood plan for comment.

When we have received feedback on the draft plan, we will revise it where required and submit it to Northumberland County Council. The plan will then be examined by an independent person and when it passes examination the local community will be asked to vote in a referendum on whether they support the plan.

We will keep this section of our website up to date with information on the progress of the plan. If you would like to be notified of opportunities to get involved in the preparation of the plan, please contact us. Any personal data supplied will only be used in relation to the Blyth Neighbourhood Plan in accordance with General Data Protection Regulations you can view a copy of our Privacy Statement and Data Protection Policy on our website.

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13/04/2022

Blyth Neighbourhood Plan Update

Northumberland County Council has approved our application for the designation of a neighbourhood area. This means that we can begin work on our neighbourhood plan.

Neighbourhood Plans are prepared by town and parish councils and set out planning policies for the development and use of land.  They can allocate land for development as well as areas for protection.  Once a plan is adopted by Northumberland County Council, planning decisions must be made in accordance with its policies, as well as those contained in the Northumberland Local Plan.

The first stage in the preparation of a neighbourhood plan is the identification of matters for the plan to address.  It does not need to repeat policies contained within the local plan; however, it can add important local detail. 

We will be using our annual town meeting on the 26th of May 2022 at 6.30 pm to begin the process of identifying and capturing local aspirations and priorities for our plan.  The information presented at the meeting will be available online for the local community and other stakeholders to provide feedback until the 30th of June 2022.

Once we have considered the feedback, we will develop the evidence to support policies and allocations in our plan.  Depending on the issues that we are looking to address we may need to undertake engagement before we publish a draft neighbourhood plan.

When we have received feedback on the draft plan, we will revise it where required and submit it to Northumberland County Council.  The plan will then be examined by an independent person and when it passes examination the local community will be asked to vote in a referendum on whether they support the plan.

We will keep the neighbourhood plan section of our website up to date with information on the progress of the plan.  If you would like to be notified of opportunities to get involved in the preparation of the plan, please contact us. Any personal data supplied will only be used in relation to the Blyth Neighbourhood Plan in accordance with General Data Protection Regulations you can view a copy of our Privacy Statement and Data Protection Policy on our website.

16/03/2022

Blyth Town Council invites residents to help shape Blyth’s future

At a Special Meeting of Blyth Town Council this week, Councillors agreed that the Council should begin creating a Neighbourhood Plan for the area. In conjunction with Northumberland County Council’s Neighbourhood planning team, the plan will draw upon residents’ input regarding future development in and around the town.

A Neighbourhood Plan can focus on a range of planning issues identified by the local community, including housing, the local economy, heritage, community life, sustainable development, the natural environment, landscape, and accessibility.

A Neighbourhood Plan is;

> A document that sets out planning policies for the neighbourhood area – in this case, Blyth. These policies are considered when deciding whether to approve planning applications

> Written with input from the local community, the people who know and love the area, rather than the Local Planning Authority

> A powerful tool to ensure the community gets the suitable types of development in the right place – i.e. adequate public services if new houses are built

If approved, it would form part of the statutory development plan for Northumberland, meaning that future planning decisions made by Northumberland County Council will base judgement on policies developed in line with the wishes of the people of Blyth.

The Mayor of Blyth Town Council, Margaret Richardson, said: “Blyth is going through a period of exciting change with developments bringing much-needed investment and employment into the area.

A neighbourhood plan will give the community a voice to help shape our town and ensure that future planning considers the public’s opinion on aspects such as local services, schools, housing, and cultural heritage.”

The process will begin by discussing what is important to those living locally – residents, community groups, businesses, and schools – to see what they’d like to improve and create a vision for Blyth.

Based on the evidence gathered, planning policies will be created and checked by Northumberland County Council and an independent examiner to check that the plan meets the government’s conditions for a Neighbourhood plan.

The final version will then go to a public referendum (vote), and if more than 50% of voters favour the plan, the local authority will bring it into force.

 Joe Hughes, Town Clerk, said, “We are constantly looking at ways to engage with the residents of Blyth on how their town should develop; the Council is therefore extremely pleased to begin this process involving the people of Blyth in its future”.

Councillors of Blyth Town Council approve the creation of Neighbourhood Plan
Councillors of Blyth Town Council approve the creation of Neighbourhood Plan (C) Blyth Town Council

This page will be updated as the plan progresses.