1. What is a Neighbourhood Plan?

• It is a planning document that communities can put together to set out how they want their area to develop over the next 15 to 20 years or so.
• It contains planning policies to set out how land should be used (by elected councillors and local authority planning officers) and to inform decisions on planning applications within the parish. Once officially ‘made’ (i.e., adopted), it becomes part of the Development Plan for the Borough (Hertsmere), sitting alongside the Local Plan. It therefore carries significant weight in the planning system.
• Over 1,000 communities across England now have neighbourhood plans, following their introduction in the 2011 Localism Act.

2. Why do we need a Neighbourhood Plan for the town?

• The plan can give us a much greater say on what happens in the area over the next 15 to 20 years. Without it, planning decisions will be taken based on the Local Plan, which does not necessarily drill down to the level of detail that might be required.
• The Plan will also help us to attract funding to the area. In Hertsmere Borough, those people bringing forward new developments have to pay something called the Community Infrastructure Levy. The amount paid is based on the sort of development that is coming forward (e.g., housing, office space, hotel, etc.).

The levy is intended to fund the provision, improvement, replacement or maintenance of infrastructure required to support development in an area as set out in its local plan. With a ‘made’ Neighbourhood Plan, the local community would benefit from an uplift in the level of CIL received, from 15% (capped at £100 per existing property) to an uncapped 25% of CIL receipts from neighbourhood area.

3. What sort of issues could the neighbourhood plan include?

• The document is first and foremost a planning policy document. We are not trying to rewrite the Local Plan though, or indeed national policy. But we do need to be in conformity with it. The value of the neighbourhood plan will be to add extra local detail to existing policy, and also to identify gaps in policy that will help to deliver our vision for our area. Typically, a neighbourhood plan might explore:

• Housing – some plans allocate sites for housing. Others, where new housing is not required (e.g., because there are already adequate homes being delivered by way of the Local Plan) focus on the sorts of homes required locally. Policies might cover the tenure (rent/private ownership) of homes, affordability issues, density of new development, and the size of homes.

• Character and Design – many communities prepare Design Guides for their area, which establish criteria against which new developments should be considered. This might include identifying the look and feel of specific parts of the parish, to ensure that new development is in-keeping with this.

• Local Heritage – some heritage assets in the area are protected by way of being nationally listed, or within a conservation area. There may be other assets, however, which are considered to be important from a historical perspective locally, but which are not listed. We have an opportunity to use the plan to identify these as ‘non-designated heritage’ assets, offering them an additional layer of protection.

• The environment – For instance, we can identify and map out green infrastructure in the parish. These are spaces that provide habitats and corridors for wildlife to move around. There may be areas we can identify as ‘opportunity areas for biodiversity’. We can also protect special green spaces in the community from inappropriate development.

• Community facilities – we can identify where additional/expanded facilities might be supported and provide criteria for the those.

• Economic issues – this might include promoting tourism, homeworking, specific sectors, the town and village centres.

• Getting around the area – promoting ‘active’ travel, by improving walking and cycling opportunities for instance.

It is important to note that our influence is over planning issues. Non-planning issues (albeit related) which fall to other organisations can be considered, but our influence is less. For instance, health provision, education, and strategic transport issues.

4. How does it differ from the Hertsmere Local Plan?

• The Neighbourhood Plan is more locally focussed than the Local Plan, which applies to the borough as a whole. Our policies must conform to the adopted Local Plan (and national) policies but can be used to add additional local detail.

• A new Local Plan is being developed for Hertsmere and we will need to keep a close eye on what that says and how it impacts our area.

5. Can we use the plan to stop further housing development in our parish?

Neighbourhood planning is not about stopping development, rather shaping it. If housing is allocated, for instance, with the emerging Borough-wide Local Plan, the neigbhourhood could not be used to stop that.

6. Who is responsible for preparing the neighbourhood plan?

The Town Council is the official lead body; however, it is vital that the plan is prepared by the community as a whole. One of the purposes of this event is to encourage people to volunteer to take part in the process. We will be setting up a Steering Group to oversee the process and also Working Groups to explore particular topics.

7. What is involved in preparing the plan?

The main steps are:

• Developing a vision for our area

• Researching how best to deliver that vision, including talking to the community and others to get their input

• Developing planning policies that will deliver the vision

• Consulting on the draft Plan with the community

• Amending the Plan based on feedback received

• Submitting the Plan to Hertsmere to conduct a further consultation

• Having the Plan examined independently, to ensure that it is fit for purpose

• Holding a public referendum on the Plan with the community, to determine if there is support for the Plan to be made.

8. How long will it take to write the plan?

The Plan applies to the whole of the parish, including the settlements of Borehamwood and Elstree and the rural areas surrounding this.

9. What area does our neighbourhood plan cover?

The Plan applies to the whole of the parish, including the settlements of Borehamwood and Elstree and the rural areas surrounding this.

10. How much will it cost to develop the neighbourhood plan?

The cost of preparing a plan varies widely depending on the size of the population, the complexity of the plan and any additional technical studies that might be required.  A plan for this area may cost in the region of £20-25k. This includes support being provided by independent planning consultants. Much of this cost can be covered using government neighbourhood plan grants and technical support.