Notes from the Truro and Roseland Neighbourhood Planning Cluster meeting

Thursday 27th February

The meeting was Chaired by Emma Ball (Cornwall Council Community Regeneration Officer) and attended by Mark Taylor for Grampound with Creed. Several other Parish Councils were represented, notable Kea, Feock, the Roseland Group and Probus.

Discussions were led mostly by the PC representatives detailing where they were in the process, and passing on tips and advise to the other PCs who are less advanced.

Should Grampound with Creed decide to complete a Neighbourhood Development Plan it would have to fit in with the requirements of the Cornwall Local Plan (which isn’t expected to be finalised until the end of 2014/beginning of 2015. It would also need to take into account the National Planning Policy Framework and the historic development plans done by the old district councils. A grant of £7,000 is available to cover the consultancy and other costs, and there is also £9000 worth of consultancy time available for Cornwall Council.

Many of the PCs represented had not had difficulty in garnering local interest. At the heart of the matter seems to be building development and the provision of affordable housing within any development. However Footpaths, Business Units, Utilities and designated areas of development are also key.
The help is there form the County Council if we wish to proceed but it is acknowledged that, with the requirement for engagement from the local community, we shouldn’t just be doing one if there is no desire and no perceived need.

As a result of the meeting, enquiries have been made about the official statistics covering the need for affordable housing in the Parish. Cornwall Council’s figures suggest that 18 units are required, however the figures are a little out of date. The Tannery Development is only partially included in the new build figures provided and not at all in the affordable housing needs area (where the Tannery provides 12 units out of the 18 needed). Further figures are due in April and will be discussed in full council at that time.

This is a standing item on the PC agenda and will be discussed in more detail at the next full Council Meeting

Cllr. Mark Taylor

Hyperlinks for the Cornwall Local Plan
http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=17394
and the National Planning Policy Framework
http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/idoc.ashx?docid=56c9ec56-7fac-4e08-bb1a-b37946b43b91&version=-1

Neighbourhood Planning at Summit

There was an entire section dedicated to Neighbourhood Planning at the recent Town and Parish Council Summit.

There was a reminder of the Coalition Government's initiative called Community Rights and the opportunity to access £60m of public money to fund development projects. An example of these rights, without money attached though, is Grampound with Creed's registering its Right to Bid for community assets including The Dolphin Inn. Other Rights include local mechanisms for

There are very few that have been formally completed and the first, in Cumbria, was adopted in May this year. One of the staff at the planning desk said that a total of five have been adopted so far - none in Cornwall.

The principle advantages of doing so were explained - the 25% share of Community Infrastructure Levy, and the fact that Cornwall Council must refer to the Neighbourhood Plan in its planning decisions.

The basic task is about colouring maps for "what can be developed where", we were told.

Neighbourhood planning is not without its difficulties though and other Town and Parish councils talked about the same challenge that we have had at Grampound with Creed. Many are at the same place having to go back and start again with talking to the community. I met one parish councillor who had stood for election because there seemed to be lack of enthusiasm for planning in the parish. With a lack of community engagement how could a parish council be confident that its proposal could win a referendum?

One suggestion for Community Engagement was to hold a rave with a questionnaire to be completed by children and young adults attending. (My teenage children have already given this the thumbs down).

At the last Parish Council meeting Mark Taylor suggested getting a stall at the village markets. This was productive in the past and could be used again.

The experience of Rame Peninsular - coordinating a plan between five parish councils - was given as a case study. They started by looking at the broad aims of economy, environment, safety, and quality of life. After that they conducted a housing needs survey and gathered economic data. Consultation was key,

"voters who have not been involved are more likely to vote 'no' which wastes the cost of the referendum and the time spent by volunteers developing the plan", said Councillor George Trubody. He went on to say, "we're still a long way off completing the work".

Parish Neighbourhood Development Plan

This is an update on the Parish Council's Neighbourhood Development Plan.

What is a Neighbourhood Development Plan?

• A Neighbourhood Plan sets out a vision for an area and planning policies for the use and development of land. 
• It will be about local rather than strategic issues.·
• The plan needs to be compatible with national policies and Cornwall policies.· 
• It should be focused on guiding development rather than stopping it.· 
• If adopted by Cornwall Council, it will become a statutory plan used in making decisions on planning applications.
• It can help to identify what community infrastructure projects are needed

Why should we have one?

• It allows the Parish to have more input into planning decisions made by Cornwall Council
• Certain developments pay a levy to Cornwall Council. The amount passed on to the Parish increases if we have a Neighbourhood Plan accepted

So far, we have canvassed the Parish for comments. As you may expect, a wide variety of views were received! Of main concern was the loss of amenities in the Grampound. This was before we lost the village shop yesterday. Concern was also shown about vehicle speeds through Grampound, as well as parking. The areas of housing were also covered in your comments but there was no consensus over whether we should seek more affordable/social housing in the village or whether no more development was desirable.

Unfortunately, less than 4% of the leaflet surveys delivered were returned. To have the Plan adopted by Cornwall Council, we will need to show strong local support, which we are some way off doing.

The Next Step

It is clear that we need to do more work to come up with a coherent plan which the majority of the Parish feels it can support. If you did not complete the original leaflet, I would urge you to now contact your Parish Councillors with your views so that they can be taken into account (contact details on the Parish Council page of the Grampound with Creed web-site http://www.grampound.org.uk/parish_council/index.html).

Finally, much of the preparatory work for the Neighbourhood plan was done by Allan Webb and Paul Fisher to whom I would like to extend grateful thanks for their efforts.