The Process
Where we are at now and next steps:
- In January 2016, the draft Plan was scrutinised by an independent professional Planning Consultant and officers of NHDC, who made initial changes and suggestions.
- The Steering Group and the Parish Council have scrutinised previous drafts of the Plan and added their observations and changes.
- The document (the Plan), which is now available for you to read (here), incorporates the independent Planning Consultant's comments, input from the Parish Council and the North Hertfordshire District Council (NHDC).
- The Character Assessment has also been scrutinised and it, together with access to other supporting documents, has been placed here on the Neighbourhood Plan website, so everyone can read it and give their comments. It will also be available in hard copy for anyone who does not have access to the internet. The Character Assessment is a really important document because it underpins many of the policies in the Plan
- The Parish Council is conducting this 6-week consultation with you on the Plan and its contents; this consultation period commences on April 4th, immediately following this newsletter and its accompanying documents and ends on May 16th (inclusive).
- The Parish Council will also consult with NHDC, neighbouring parish councils, various statutory bodies like the Highways Authority and anyone else the Parish Council thinks should be consulted.
- Guidance is provided to you on how to access supporting documents (here), and how to provide feedback (here), should you wish to express a specific comment or opinion.
- During the period of Consultation, the Steering Group will host an open evening at the Village Hall on April 19th at 7.00 pm to explain what we have done and to answer your questions once you have had a chance to look at the draft Plan. There will be further announcements about this meeting before that date.
- After the Consultation, we will amend the Plan, where necessary, to accord with the consensus of your views.
- The resultant Plan and its supporting documents, will then be sent to the NHDC. There the Plan is checked to make sure that proper legal processes have been followed. Hopefully because of our current and ongoing discussions and our meetings with the NHDC Officers, this should be a formality.
- Thereafter NHDC will make arrangements for an independent expert to "Examine" the Plan to make sure it meets the legal criteria for a Neighbourhood Plan and that its policies are clear and appropriate in planning terms.
- We don't know exactly how long this will take, but we are talking to NHDC officials to see how we might be able to achieve this in the optimum amount of time.
- Once we've cleared these hurdles, it's back to you, to vote in a referendum on whether or not you want to accept the Neighbourhood Plan and make sure that the NHDC uses it as part of the planning process.
We are getting there and from everyone on the Steering Group thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone in Pirton for all your help, ideas and support throughout this difficult task.
Please carry on with all your input which we really value.
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