Questions asked for today
Why did we want to become a front runner council
What did we hope to get out of it
How have we got on so far
Costs and sources of funding we have used
Good practice and experience we would wish to pass on to
other councils and communities
Background and Conditions from DCLG
Neighbourhood plans
• provision made in the Localism Bill
• must not conflict with Local Plan
• must conform to general principles of new National Planning Policy Framework
• must be approved by a majority vote in a referendum
Neighbourhood plans
• Plans will have statutory status to enable
determination of planning applications
• make allocations of land use and protect
and safeguard land from development
• establish policies on affordable housing etc
• basis for securing planning-related funds to
invest in supporting infrastructure
Neighbourhood plans
•Plan can include Neighbourhood Development Order
and/or Community Right to Build Order
•can identify ‘Assets of Community Value’
•adopted by WODC as the local planning authority
SUMMARY of AIMS, GOVERNANCE and MANAGEMENT (DCLG)
“Neighbourhood planning is a new way for communities to decide the future of the places where
they live and work”.
AIMS of Neighbourhood Planning
With a neighbourhood plan, communities will be able to establish general planning
policies for the development and use of land in a neighbourhood. They will be able to say,
for example, where new homes and offices should be built, and what they should look
like. The neighbourhood plan will set a vision for the future. It can be detailed, or general,
depending on what local people want
•With a neighbourhood development order, the community can grant planning permission
for new buildings they want to see go ahead. Neighbourhood development orders will
allow new homes and offices to be built without the developers having to apply for
separate planning permission.
Local people can choose to draw up either a plan, or a development order, or both. It is
entirely up to them. Both must follow some ground rules:
•They must generally be in line with local and national planning policies
•They must be in line with other laws
•If the local planning authority says that an area needs to grow, then communities cannot
use neighbourhood planning to block the building of new homes and businesses. They
can, however, use neighbourhood planning to influence the type, design, location and mix
of new development.
Front Runner Governance, Management & Resources
(from the Chipping Norton bid document full version on WODC site)
Governance
The Neighbourhood Planning Front Runner will be governed by a new Project Board
comprising the elected members for Chipping Norton of the West Oxfordshire
District Council and the Oxfordshire County Council and of the Chipping Norton
Town Council. The precise composition of the Board and its Chair will be
determined in due course but its intent will be to ensure a properly democratic
accountability for decision-making.
The Project Board will be accountable to each of the three Councils and/or their
relevant committees. In the case of the District Council as local planning authority,
the Project Board will report the Neighbourhood Development Plan (and Orders as
necessary) to its Cabinet for approval, examination, referendum and adoption.
The Project Board will meet at the beginning of each project stage to commence
that stage of work and it will meet to sign off any material for subsequent public
consultation before the completion of that stage.
Management
The project will be managed by a small team comprising Planning Officers of
the District Council, the Town Clerk of the Town Council and relevant local
community experts nominated by the Town Council. The County Council will
also be invited to nominate a representative on to this team.
The team will manage the project activities, programme, resources and
events within the agreed project plan and budget. It will report on progress to
the Project Board in timely way. It will delegate to the Editorial and Research
& Intelligence support groups relevant tasks to each
Resources
The resources available to the project will comprise:
• The Neighbourhood Planning Front Runner grant of £20,000
•The in-house planning and document publishing resources of the District
Council
•A cash contribution from the Town Council
•Co-opted local community experts (paid expenses only)
•Voluntary Task Group, Focus Group and Support Group participants
•The ‘Supporting Communities & Neighbourhoods in Planning’ service
•District, County and Town Councillors for project governance
The likely cash expenses will be in relation to meetings, exhibitions, events
and communications (online and offline). There will also be expenses in
undertaking the independent examination and referendum, although these
are not yet known. There may be a need to pay for the engagement of
external specialist support to address gaps in coverage or detail of the
evidence base (although this is not anticipated to any great extent).
Terms of Reference (February 2012)
Chipping Norton Neighbourhood Plan (CNNP) Front Runner Scheme
Introduction
This statement outlines the key roles and responsibilities of the main partners involved in the in the development of the
Chipping Norton Neighbourhood Plan (CNNP).
Chipping Norton Town Council, with the support of West Oxfordshire District Council, is committed to working with the
community to produce a Neighbourhood Plan which provides a planning and land use policy framework for the future
development of the Town, giving a clear structure for addressing locally identified issues. The document will build on the
work of the successful (1993 and 2003) Chipping Norton Town Appraisals. The objective is to complete a Neighbourhood
Plan for the town by 2013.
Context of CNNP
The 2003 Town Appraisal identified the following vision for the town based on community consultation:
‘ … working Cotswold town thriving economically and socially as a rural hub – but keeping the strong community spirit and
local services and facilities’ (pp 3 ‘A vision for a working Cotswold town – the report of the Chipping Norton Town Appraisal
2003)
The Government is implementing major reforms to the planning system with the aim of ensuring the local community has a
greater say in their community. Neighbourhood Plans is an opportunity for the Chipping Norton community to build on the
previous Town Appraisals to assess progress to date, confirm that the vision remains relevant, and consider how land use
planning may address the issues identified within the 2003 Town Appraisal and through subsequent consultation.
Structure, Roles and Responsibilities
The preparation of a Neighbourhood Plan for Chipping Norton will require a clear governance structure which defines
various duties and responsibilities. At this early stage of the Plan, it is proposed that two groups with clear remits are
established:•CNNP Project Board
Group of democratically elected representatives at Town, District and County levels to function as decision making body –
involving consideration and sign off of specific tasks/papers relating to the Plan.
•CNNP Project Steering Group
Group of members of the community, with the support of CNTC Clerk and District Council Officers, who work to steer the
plan process and deliver identified activities for progressing the Plan.
After the direction of the Neighbourhood Plan is established consideration will be given to the set up of the support teams
and task groups
Chipping Norton Neighbourhood Planning Management Structure
CNTC
WODC
PROJECT BOARD
OCC
Editorial Team
PROJECT
STEERING
GROUP
R and I Team
Housing
and Enterprise
Health Wellbeing Education
and Community
Sustainability
and Transport
TASK GROUP
TASK GROUP
TASK GROUP
YOUTH, WORKING and OLDER PEOPLE
FOCUS GROUPS
Next steps taken or to be taken
• arrange first Project Board meeting to agree governance
structure etc.
• establish Project Steering Group
• publish information leaflet for all households, organisations
and landowners
• recruit to Task and Support Groups
(Orientation and Task Group meeting 2nd April)
• agree project management support
• produce our “VISION FOR 2026”
THE TWO MANAGEMENT GROUPS
The Steering Group and Project Board composition .
The Project Board (A Group of democratically elected representatives of
the community with the task of signing off specific tasks/papers relating to
the Plan)
Consisting of : A WODC Project Development Planning Officer, 3 Town
Councillors, [CNTC Mayor as Chair and ex officio], 3 District Councillors
and 1 County Councillor.
The Steering Group (A Group to steer and manage the plan
process, make recommendations to the Project board and deliver particular
activities for progressing the plan)
Consisting of: A WODC Project Planning Officer, 1 Town Councillor who
also sits on the Project Board, the CNTC Clerk and 5 or 6 other members
including Task Group leaders, Town Council members community and
business representatives.
THE PROPOSED PROCESS
A process of around 18 months has been designed in outline to blend together the
best of the current planning system with the new system following the Localism Bill.
It ensures that the Neighbourhood Plan will be well-informed by a sound evidence
base from the outset supplied, interpreted and refreshed by the District Council as
necessary. But it also places the local community in the driving seat through
encouragement and enabling them to debate the issues and come to views that
represent a significant majority of the population.
Stage One: Evidence (3 months)
This stage begins with a validation of the evidence base of the West Oxfordshire
Local Development Framework for the purposes of this project, together with other
relevant evidence, and ends with the publication of a ‘Vision for 2026’ report on
which to engage the local community. The Task and Focus groups, with support
from the Research & Intelligence Team, will be deployed to validate the evidence for
subsequent stages.
• 2003 Town Appraisal proposal & evidence base review
• 2011 West Oxfordshire Core Strategy policy & evidence base review
• New bespoke Neighbourhood Plan evidence gathering
• Commence Sustainability Appraisal
• Publish ‘VISION for 2026’ Report (inc. Sustainability Appraisal objectives)
• Public Consultation
Stage Two: Scenarios (2 months)
This stage revisits the three scenarios of the 2003 Town Appraisal to determine if
they remain plausible and valuable to develop. Each scenario is developed in
sufficient detail, as before, using the Task and Focus groups, to enable comparison
and then evaluation in the most important community engagement phase of the
whole project.
At the end of this stage, a preferred scenario will emerge that will be the focus of
the Plan.
• Refresh & develop three 2003 Town Appraisal scenarios with outline visions,
functions/services, spatial growth, infrastructure and investment
• Public Consultation
Stage Three: Draft Neighbourhood Plan (3 months)
In this stage, the preferred scenario is developed in more detail in terms of its
(measurable) objectives, spatial plan, planning proposals, non-planning proposals and
delivery features. The Task and Focus groups will develop each component of the plan.
The District Council will facilitate translating the planning proposals into the
Neighbourhood Development Plan section, comprising specific land-use related
policies and allocations to complement the Local Plan/Core Strategy (and perhaps a
Neighbourhood Development Order and/or Community Right to Build Order). A
draft Plan will be published for consultation with the local community using
exhibitions, meetings and online/offline surveys.
•Vision & Objectives
•Spatial Approach
•Neighbourhood Development Plan policies, Orders and Proposals
•Non-Neighbourhood Development Plan proposals
•Delivery Strategy
•Initial Sustainability Appraisal
•Public Consultation
Stage Four: Final Neighbourhood Plan (3 months)
In this stage, the final draft Plan is prepared using the outcomes of the public
consultation in the previous stage. The Plan will be published in ‘submission’
equivalent form in readiness for Examination.
Final text & plans
Publication of Submission Document and Sustainability Appraisal
Stage Five: Examination (3 months)
The full and final details of this stage are not yet known but it is expected that the
examination process will be a scaled-down version of that used for other
Development Plan Documents. We intend to invite a suitably qualified and
experienced senior staff member of the School of Planning at Oxford Brookes
University to act as independent examiner.
•Pre-Examination Meeting
•Examination
• Examiners Report
Stage Six: Referendum (1 month)
Again, the final details of this stage are not yet known but we expect a public
referendum to be arranged by the District Council with the support of the Town
Council in a way that was timed and managed to encourage an above-average
turnout of voters.
Stage Seven: Adoption (2 months)
Finally, if given a majority vote in favour, the Plan will be produced for approval and
adoption by the District Council and then published online and offline.
•Final text & plan production
•West Oxfordshire District Council adoption
• Document Publication
The 2003 Town Appraisal
In 2003, the Town Council oversaw the completion of a town appraisal for Chipping
Norton. The report followed a previous ‘parish plan’ in 1990/1 and sought to
reestablish a shared vision for the town to 2013.
The process took 18 months to complete almost entirely through voluntary effort
from a wide cross-section of the community with some limited support from the
District and County councils.
Specifically, it involved over 100 individuals in expert task groups and enabled
contributions from over 1,700 local residents and villagers, over 70 local
businesses and over 500 young people.
In her Foreword, the Mayor acknowledged that,
“Chipping Norton is a town that has always seemed able to sort itself. There
has historically been an air of independence about the place and a pride in its
heritage. Always underpinning this, too, has been a great sense of community,
thriving on the diverse nature of its people, businesses, facilities and
buildings.”
The Chipping Norton Set
Chipping Norton Now
Over the last eight years much has been achieved. The town’s hospital has been
relocated into modern premises, its secondary school has a new science block,
the lido is operated by a community enterprise, over 250 new dwellings have
been built and a combined new Youth facility and Adult learning facility (Glyme
Hall) is now open.
All this has been achieved without undermining the historic character of the town,
nor the quality of the surrounding Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
On the other hand, this period has seen the closure of the Parker Knoll furniture
factory (with the loss of hundreds of jobs over the preceding decade), increasing
traffic congestion in the town centre, the loss of half the town’s pubs and the
gradual increase in vacant or short term let shop units.
As in 2002/3, the town feels as if it is close to an important crossroads in its future
direction. The following are all key drivers of future change, which may have
profound beneficial and negative consequences for the town and its surrounding
rural hinterland for the next generations:
Chipping Norton Neighbourhood Plan Front Runner bid July 2011
Social infrastructure – the town’s population is such that much of its school,
health and leisure infrastructure could be ‘stuck between two stools’, in that the
town is already big enough to require key services, but not yet big enough to offer
these services as efficiently or effectively as modern consumers of them demand.
The Draft Core Strategy indicates that primary school provision is reaching capacity
and could be in effect a brake on future development in the town. And yet many of
the smaller village schools in the Chipping Norton ‘family’ arguably are only surviving
because of the demands for school places from the town’s families.
Retail infrastructure – the town is one of very few in the country of its small size
that can boast a wide range of multiple and independent retailers and indeed it may
even be unique. This is as a result of historic investment by some key multiple
retailers – Boots, W H Smiths and Burtons/Top Shop – which despite major changes in
their corporate ownership and commercial strategies continue to trade in a town whose
catchment population falls significantly below the thresholds such businesses
would normally consider for locating outlets. It is also as a result of significant local
investment by the Midcounties Co-operative (whose tradition in the town goes back
to the Chipping Norton Co-op in 1866) and to other important retailers – Beales,
Harpers – and a host of long standing local retailers. But for how long can all these
retailers continue to trade successfully and to what extent will this be driven by
future population growth and by the economic bond between the town and its
surrounding villages? And how does the community judge whether or not a likely
application for a major new out of centre food store will have a net positive or
negative impact on the town centre?
Enterprise infrastructure – the town continues to provide a range of
employment opportunities for its residents and a wide population in and beyond
West Oxfordshire.
Its traditional services and agricultural businesses have over the years been
supplemented by businesses in the creative sector. But with higher fuel prices in the
longer term and the threat of inadequate broadband capacity in this rural area, will
these businesses be able to stay and will it still be possible to attract new businesses if
the labour pool is constrained?
Transport infrastructure – the town lies at the junction of the A44 and A361
with larger centres of population – Witney, Banbury, Oxford, Cheltenham and
Stratford – at least ten miles away.
As with other similar rural areas, private car dependence is relatively high with
significant challenges (given the relative isolation and topography) of promoting public
transport and cycling alternatives. The prospect of ‘peak oil’ will seriously harm the
ability of the town’s residents to commute longer distances but its own businesses may
struggle to be competitive. How can the town’s mix of transport types be more resilient
to future demand?
Green infrastructure - the town’s 4,000 domestic and non-domestic buildings are
the main source of carbon emissions through energy demand with very few at
present having installed renewable energy generation capacity (e.g. solar). Its
surrounding AONB status landscape is without doubt beautiful and much is
successfully farmed. But how can the combination of this natural environmental asset
and our ageing building stock become part of our green infrastructure that lowers
our carbon footprint and increases our resilience to climate change and higher
energy costs?
The West Oxfordshire Draft Core Strategy 2011
The strategy, published for consultation in January 2011, has been developed through
two key documents published for consultation – the Core Strategy So Far (February
2009) and the Preferred Approach (February 2010). It also has foundations in the
strategy of the West Oxfordshire Local Plan adopted in June 2006.
It adopts a settlement hierarchy (Policy CS2) which defines Chipping Norton as one
of three ‘main service centres’ in the District. In these centres, “the majority of new
residential and economic development, together with supporting services, will be
accommodated within and on the edge of these three service centres.
The strategy for Chipping Norton is set out in Policy CS8.
Policy CS8 Strategy for Chipping Norton
“Proposals for development in Chipping Norton should be consistent with the strategy
which includes:
conservation and enhancement of the town’s landscape setting and heritage assets
 working with the highway authority, the town council and other partners to reduce
the impact of through traffic, especially lorries, upon the town centre and its air quality
improving conditions throughout the town for pedestrians and cyclists, including
accessibility to bus services
 a stronger town centre with new opportunities for retail and community facilities on
land between High Street and Albion Street
management of public car parking areas to help support the town centre
expansion of employment opportunities to match local skills
provision of new education and community facilities
about 400 new homes including affordable housing and homes for older people
priority will be given to reuse/redevelopment of the former health and older people’s
accommodation off Spring Street.
any future development on the fringes of Chipping Norton should
o meet identified local needs
o protect and enhance the setting of the town
o be of a type and scale which does not place unacceptable pressure on local
schools
o not set a precedent for further development which would result in an
unacceptable level of change to the character and environment of this historic town.”
Stakeholders
For the Plan to be meaningful and deliverable, it will be essential that key
stakeholder groups participate, either through the Task Groups or through informing
the evidence base and responding to consultation opportunities. Land and property
owners (and developer interests with options thereon) will be encouraged to engage
with the project and will likely do so given the proposed status of the Neighbourhood
Development Plan element.
It is also expected that a wide range of specialist interest groups will participate, e.g.
town traders, environmental/heritage groups, local charities, the NHS, the Thames
Valley Police etc. The Town Council and District Council will both use their databases
of local contacts to ensure that all such groups are aware of the project and are
invited to participate in the Task Groups.
There will also be three Focus Groups: Young People (18 and under), Older People
(retired) and Working Age (18 – 60). In each case a small number of people from
across the community will be encouraged (or bribed!) to act as a focus group against
which the evidence base and work of the Task Groups throughout the stages can be
constantly tested from their specific perspective. This technique worked very well in the
2003 Town Appraisal as it gave non-technical, non-professional lay people an opportunity
to discuss a range of ideas and proposals as they may affect them and people like
them in the community.
Support Groups
There will also be two Support Groups: Editorial and Research & Intelligence. The
former will take responsibility for authoring the content of the Plan; the latter will
manage the database of evidence throughout the project on behalf of all the groups.
Again, both groups were used in the 2003 Town Appraisal to great effect.
Neighbouring Parishes
As the Plan will cover only the parish of Chipping Norton then the neighbouring
parish councils will be consulted at every stage of the project and, where relevant,
may be invited to nominate a representative onto one or more of the Task Groups.
The Town Council acknowledges at the outset the importance of the surrounding
villages to its economic and social future and will therefore be especially mindful of
engaging its neighbours in this process.
Chipping Norton Neighbourhood Plan Front Runner bid July 2011
2003 Appraisal
The appraisal ‘Vision for 2013’ “would see a working Cotswold town thriving
economically and socially as a rural hub - but keeping the strong community spirit
and local services and facilities”.
The vision was the result of a major consultation exercise within the community
based on three alternative but plausible scenarios for the town as:
1. “A sleepy Cotswold jewel - driven by demographics of retired people and
high- income commuters moving into town
2. A rural outpost - driven by economic drift and decline with investment going
to larger towns
3. A thriving cultural gateway - driven by maintaining critical mass through
growth, with the risk of threats to environment and a quiet peaceful
atmosphere”
The community overwhelmingly supported the third of these scenarios as that which
best represented their aspirations for the town. This in turn enabled a series of key
issues to be addressed in the coming years.
Appendix A: Evidence Base
The following studies and evidence documents are available to inform the Chipping
Norton Neighbourhood Plan:
o Affordable Housing Viability Study 2009 and 2011 Update
o Air Quality Management Plan - Horsefair and High Street Chipping Norton
o Chipping Norton Landscape Assessment 2009
o Chipping Norton Town Appraisal 2003
o Cotswolds AONB Management Plan
o Demographic Projections (2010)
o Draft Core Strategy January 2011 and Sustainability Appraisal
o Employment Land Review 2007 and Update 2011
o Green Infrastructure Study 2011
oHousehold Survey of New Development 2009
o Housing Needs Survey 2008 (currently being updated)
o Local Transport Plan 3 2011- 2030 (incl. Chipping Norton Area Strategy)
o Open Space Audit 2008
o Renewable energy and Sustainable Construction Study 2009
o Retail Needs Assessment 2007
o Settlement Sustainability Reports 2010
o Strategic Flood Risk Assessment 2009
o Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (Draft 2011) West Oxfordshire
Design Guide
oWest Oxfordshire Health & Well-being Strategy 2009 – 2012
o West Oxfordshire Sustainable Community Strategy
o West Oxfordshire Tourism Strategy 2009 – 2012
Enter code 1-5
for each:
THE 2003 APPRAISAL
Code
Strongly agree
1
Agree
2
Disagree
3
Strongly disagree
4
No opinion
5
Question : 19
The following are major positive aspects of Chipping Norton that make you want to live here – do you agree?
Person
The community and its spirit
Pleasant physical environment
The Town's location
Local employment opportunities
Right housing available
Facilities for leisure and sport
Local services and shops
Good public transport
Good local education/schools
Local health and caring services
Lots of things going on
Peaceful and safe neighbourhood
A
B
C
D
E
F
Question : 20
If you had to make choices about Chipping Norton’s future, which of the following would you put as most
important?
Please tick your top 3
Person
More local jobs and businesses
Preserving and improving local shops
Keeping excellent local schools
Providing more houses at reasonable prices
Keeping the community spirit
Providing more modern leisure facilities
Attracting more visitors to the town
Keeping a pleasant environment
Safety and security as a priority
A
B
C
D
E
F
CONCERNS ABOUT THE SCHEME
1. Effectiveness of Localism Bill ?
2. Ownership of Plan by WODC
3. Is this process all too late for us to influence the three rather sensitive sites in the centre
of Chipping Norton?
(The old Hospital site has just been sold. The Care home site is up for sale as is the old
Ambulance station.)
4. Website - Dedicated Neighbourhood Planning Site for Advertising meetings, one vehicle
for the Questionnaire and keeping the residents informed of the progress through the
scheme. Needs to be up and running very soon.
5. Editorial and Research groups– so far a weak link
6. Questionnaire distributed by Newsagents, online possibility, via Guildhall, Doctors
Surgeries, Supermarkets etc. Will this reach enough residents?
7. Funding availability and help?
RTPI (Some free advice) Good general website, CPRE (design Council CABE (Commision
for Architecture and the Built Environment, Locality, Princes Foundation (suspended
scheduling for collaborative events)
8. Administrative/time cost to our part time staff
3 part time staff (9am-1pm 4 or 5 days per week)
RTPI
RTPI
DAWLISH
WARMINSTER
http://www.teignbridge.gov.uk/places
http://www.warminster.uk.com
DCLG website
Community groups and individuals may get free expert advice
and guidance on all aspects of engaging with the planning
system from four organisations who are supported by the
Department for Communities and Local Government:
The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment: Supporting
communities and neighbourhoods in planning www.princesfoundation.org/our-work/supporting-communities-andneighbourhoods-planning
Locality www.buildingcommunity.org.uk
Campaign to Protect Rural England:
Planning Help www.planninghelp.org.uk
Royal Town Planning Institute:
Planning Aid www.rtpi.org.uk/planningaid/ (external links).
Prince's Foundation
Pending a decision by the DCLG for 2012/13 funding, the Prince's
Foundation has suspended the scheduling of further collaborative
planning events. Applications for the Supporting Communities and
Neighbourhoods in Planning Scheme are still welcome, and will be
put on a waiting list for future consideration in the order they are
received.
All applicants on the waiting list will be notified about DCLG's
decision and future progression of the scheme before 31st March
2012.
Locality
“Although our tailored planning support is currently
closed, you can still use our training workshops and
study tours, online resources and a creative planning
camp to help you to get involved in neighbourhood
planning.”
CPRE
The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), in partnership
with the National Association of Local Councils (NALC), are
helping to deliver important advice and guidance on planning
through the 'Supporting Communities and Neighbourhoods in
Planning' project.
The project will run until the end of March 2012
RTPI