The Localim Bill ..... launches "Localism" - what does it mean for you?

The government is aiming to push decision making closer to home, your home. Parish Councils are the most local form of government and we are being asked to say if we want to be involved in deciding how the village will develop by establishing a “Neighbourhood Plan” and if we want to run some or all of the local council services that are currently provided by Brentwood Borough Council.

Neighbourhood Plans are wholly new so have no precedent and Doddinghurst Parish Council has expressed an interest in being in the vanguard project that will establish a format for the future and is being helped by government grants. The intent is that these plans become associated with the Brentwood Borough Local Plan and form an important reference document in dealing with planning and other development applications for the Village. The Neighbourhood Plan isn't necessarily curtailed by the Parish Council boundary and isn't just about building work but also about the social and economic health of the community.

The devolution of services and the extent this can happen will be dependent upon suitable funding arrangements. The Parish Council already carries out maintenance work on the recreation land it owns and receives a discretionary grant from Brentwood that covers the cost of the work. However, the grant is being cut and there is a risk of “Double Taxation”. This arises when services included in Council Tax, collected by Brentwood Borough Council, is also charged to resident of a Parish in the Parish Precept charge, so Villagers end up paying twice for the same service. The Parish Council is working with Brentwood to determine how this can be avoided if the Parish Council takes on the responsibility for delivery of services currently carried out by Brentwood. The services being discussed, at present, are about road and pavement sweeping, cleaning of street furniture such as road nameplates, emptying drain gullies & verge mowing. More specialist work such as refuse and recycling collections and work under the umbrella of Essex County Council, including highways repairs, are unlikely to be affected.

So bigger decisions are getting closer to you in a literal sense. The people making the decisions live in or near the Village, maybe in your road. Not only that, they are otherwise ordinary people with a common passion for the Village. If you have the time and interest you could be one of them.

Tell me more about Localism, Neighbourhood planning & how it all works....

On the 13th December 2010 the Coalition Government published the first reading of the Localism Bill, its proposed Bill to reform Government (local and national) to devolve power to local communities and with a particular focus on Planning decisions.

As part of that Bill, they have proposed (and are taking forward) the idea of "Neighbourhood Plans".

Perhaps a quick overview of the existing planning system would be useful, and is as follows:

At the top of the current system are Planning Policy Statements (PPS 's) which set out the principles of Planning in this country - things like the concept of Green Belt and sustainable design. Underneath those are a series of Regional Plans, setting out things like how many houses and businesses should be created in a Region (except London) over the next 10 years. The Coalition Government will be removing these plans on enactment of the Localism Bill, but for the meantime they are still in place.

Underneath the Regional Plans are local Core Strategies and Brentwood Borough Council prepares these. They set out the key principles for the Plan within the area, such as local housing sites and general principles of design. Under that Core Strategy sits a series of Development Plan Documents (DPD's) that lay down the details such as how much a house can be extended under usual circumstances, and what sites will be considered for housing development.

Under the existing system, the Council had to consult on these documents, but there was no obligation to take account of views expressed. However, in an attempt to devolve power to local communities to decide what happens in their area, the Government have now proposed the idea of "Neighbourhood Plans" in the Localism Bill.

Their intention is that local community groups will come together with a vision for their area, approach the Council to be formally recognised, and then this group will develop a spatial plan for their area, setting out what forms of development they think will be acceptable, and effectively grant permission for certain types of use without having to apply for planning permission.

Such a plan for the Doddinghurst area could not only benefit those wanting to channel the nature of development, but also benefit the wider area, allowing investment and development to bring jobs and homes in to the area in a controlled and safe way, directly led by the community - rather than by the Borough Council, with the community saying what they wanted and where they wanted it, rather than someone without any connection to the area in remote Council offices.

The Government intends to enact the Bill in April 2012. However, before that takes place, they intend to "test" these Neighbourhood Plans, and wrote to all Authorities in the Country in December 2010 to invite applications by the 14th of February 2011 for "Neighbourhood Planning Vanguards": areas wanting to pilot these new plans and work with the community to deliver a vision for an area.

Those Authorities across the UK chosen to pilot this work would be given not only direct support by the Government to pull together the plans, but also given up to £20,000 of funding (given to the partnership of the Parish and the Council, NOT directly to the Council) to make sure the plan development can take place, such as paying for expert advice.

Llinks to the Government's Vanguard project, the letter to Chief Planning Officers setting out the details of the Localism Bill, Neighbourhood Plans and key contacts are given below.

http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1788684
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/letterlocalismbill
http://www.communities.gov.uk/planningandbuilding/planningsystem/neighbourhoodplanningvanguards/

The plain english guide to Localism is to be found here:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/localgovernment/localismplainenglishguide