Cramlington Neighbourhood Plan to be legally ‘made’
10 Mar 2020 ARCHIVED (over 3 months old) - view latest news
Northumberland County Council’s cabinet has agreed to formally ‘make’ the Cramlington Neighbourhood Plan.
This means that the document becomes part of the statutory development plan for Cramlington and decisions on planning applications in the parish must now be made in line with the policies in it, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.
This decision follows a successful referendum on 30 January 2020, when the majority of registered electors who voted were in support of the plan.
The plan includes policies on a wide range of issues including extending housing choice, growth in employment and the economy, sustainable and active travel, local green space and community facilities.
The plan was prepared by Cramlington Town Council with the support of planning officers from the county council, and including extensive community consultation and engagement between 2014 and 2019.
Cramlington’s is the tenth neighbourhood plan in Northumberland to pass a referendum and be made.
Cllr John Riddle, cabinet member for planning, housing and resilience at the County Council said: “Neighbourhood planning is very important to the council, and Northumberland is leading the way on Neighbourhood Plans in the UK, so I am extremely pleased to see a further plan pass referendum and be officially ‘made’.
“The views and opinions of local people on how their town and local area develop is extremely important, and through the neighbourhood planning process these can be fully explored and built into a cohesive plan for the area.
“Community support is essential because, unlike other planning policy documents, once a neighbourhood plan passes an independent examination it is subject to a local referendum. Only a plan that passes a referendum with a majority of support from the electorate is able to be brought into legal force by the Council.”
Deputy Leader and Cramlington Councillor Wayne Daley added: “This new plan contains various policies around sustainable development, local green space and growing employment and the local economy - to name but a few.
“I’d like to thank the Town Council for all their efforts in preparing this Plan over the past few years, as well as our own planning officers who have provided support along the way.”
You can find more information about neighbourhood planning - including the full Cramlington plan, at www.northumberland.gov.uk/ourplan