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What to do if you want to embark on a neighbourhood plan

In the first instance, please contact us to discuss your proposals. You can email: neighbourhoodplanning@tewkesbury.gov.uk or telephone: 01684 272151. Tewkesbury borough council will discuss your ideas for doing a neighbourhood plan to establish if a plan is suitable for your community. We will outline some initial aspects to help you consider whether to proceed.

Once the parish or town council have considered all the relevant factors on whether to undertake a neighbourhood plan or not, they must apply to Tewkesbury borough council to ‘designate’ a neighbourhood area, if they wish to proceed. The neighbourhood area usually follows the town or parish boundary. The designation makes the parish or town council seeking to do a neighbourhood plan the official ‘relevant body’ in accordance with the Localism Act, to formally develop a plan.

We are committed to publishing all applications received in our local planning authority area, in accordance with the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and Part 2, Regulation 6 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 (as amended).

How to apply for a neighbourhood area

Please read the accompanying guidance note before completing the online form. This will ensure your application accords with Section 5 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 (as amended). If you experience any issues with the online form please email: neighbourhoodplanning@tewkesbury.gov.uk or download and complete a word version of the form:

What happens next?

Once submitted Tewkesbury borough council will review the form, make the necessary arrangements to designate the neighbourhood area and where necessary, arranging and undertaking a consultation on the proposed area (if more than one parish is seeking to work together for example). We will also publish the outcome on the councils neighbourhood planning in Tewkesbury webpage and in the community, working with the parish or town council.

Once you have applied for your neighbourhood area designation, you may find our neighbourhood planning preparation webpage of interest. It sets out details about:

  • Preparing a neighbourhood plan
  • What Tewkesbury Borough Council’s role is in neighbourhood planning
  • Regulation 14 – Pre-submission consultation and publicity of draft plan
  • Regulation 16 – Submission of final plan
  • Examination and referendum

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Funding for neighbourhood planning

The Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government (DHCLG) increased the level of funding available to all groups from £8,000 to £9,000 from 1st April 2016. This additional funding can be used by groups to fund the completion of their neighbourhood plans. DHCLG hope that some groups will use this funding to obtain more information for their evidence base, but this is not mandatory.

All groups writing a neighbourhood development plan or neighbourhood development order are eligible to apply for up to the £9,000 grant. Groups facing a range of complex issues are able to apply for further support from the programme.

Further support comes in two forms:

  • A further grant of up to £8,000 is available to groups meeting certain criteria.
  • Technical support provided by AECOM. There are a range of technical support packages that groups are able to apply for as and when they become needed.

If your group received £8,000 in funding, before the 1st April 2016, and you are still working on your plan, you may apply for further funding up to the maximum of £9,000 (or £15,000 for complex groups). More information is available from the neighbourhood planning locality website.

Useful information

There are many communities across England that have completed the neighbourhood planning process and have made neighbourhood plans, including communities in Tewkesbury borough, which can be viewed on the neighbourhood planning in Tewkesbury webpage. You may be interested to review these and draw on other examples of best practice, such as Herefordshire and Cornwall.

Some sources of further reading include:

Neighbourhood planning in Tewkesbury

To find details on neighbourhood plans made in Tewkesbury borough; current consultations on neighbourhood plans; and communities engaged in the process and what stage they are at, go to our neighbourhood planning in Tewkesbury webpage.