The Neighbourhood Plan Concept
Belchford & Fulletby Parish Council shall, through the Neighbourhood Development Plan, work with Partners across several Themes to promote Social and Environmental Goods, that will deliver Community Wellbeing.
The Purpose:
Our Neighbourhood development Plan (NDP) shall:
- DOCUMENT the community’s interests and wishes for the development of our two parishes of Belchford & Fulletby, hereafter known as the ‘Area’, see map on page 3, for boundaries;
- DIRECT and GUIDE planning activities within the Area.
The NDP shall promote community well-being, by focusing on:
- Social good – the interests of the human inhabitants;
- Environmental good – the wider interests of the natural world – flora, fauna, soil, etc.
These two broad areas of community interests can be regarded as ‘benefits’; they are not mutually exclusive and are often joined.
Operating Principle:
All development should deliver an element of community well-being. i.e. Developments should promote social and environmental benefits for the community as a whole, as well as serving the interests of the developer.
Use:
The NDP will present our community’s wishes and priorities for proposed development in the Area, to:
- Aid planning applicants to develop their plans, so that they will deliver social and environmental goods for everyone;
- Help planning authorities take into account community benefits when assessing planning applications.
The Approach
The NDP shall be developed by the Belchford & Fulletby Parish Council, through a democratic process, with consultation with the parishioners. It shall indicate broad types of social and environmental goods, e.g.
Social
- Quality local employment, including protection of existing local employment and the creation of new jobs;
- Encouragement of business development that is appropriate to a rural area by supporting initiatives that deliver social goods and discouraging development that would risk turning Belchford and Fulletby into ‘commuter villages’;
- Encouragement of a diverse demographic, e.g. housing should not be all of one type, large or small and attention should be given to the provision of ‘affordable’ housing
- Promotion of measures that would enhance the quality of life for parishioners, e.g. better broadband and communications links;
- Recreational facilities – footpaths, public spaces, other facilities;
- Aesthetics – how our built and natural environment appears.
Environmental
- How can our community play its part in combating climate change? E.g. promotion of renewable energy projects; increase tree cover across the Area – in designated areas (Community woodland, village greens) and elsewhere; also tree and hedgerow protection;
- Encourage wildlife through habitat preservation and creation, e.g. areas planted with bee-friendly shrubs, long grass sites, etc. Also promote more wildlife-friendly business and residential development and practices
The NDP should not specify discrete physical areas for development , or non-development – this is impractical in such a small area and is divisive.
All of these goods should be caveated with the word, ‘appropriate’ for the Area, i.e. a large industrial estate is not appropriate but small rural enterprise units could be. Delivery of these benefits can be either directly included by the proposed development or indirectly through offsets, but all benefits must be within the Area.
Themes
Delivering social and environmental good are what can broadly be described as ‘Themes’:
- Housing
- Business and enterprise
- Social amenities (Belchford Village Green, Fulletby Glebe Field, village halls, pubs, shops)
- Tourism
- Infrastructure projects (broadband, bus shelters, Belchford solar panel project)
- Environmental assets (Community Woodland, Jubilee Copse, roadside verges, environmentally-friendly operating measures for home, business and agriculture)
Partners
Delivery of social and environmental goods cannot be by the Parish Council alone. B&FPC should work with partners to realise these community benefits:
- Parishioners
- Developers
- District and County councils
- Wildlife Trust
- Lincolnshire Wolds Countryside Service
- Grant-funding bodies
- Utility providers
- Farmers and landowners
- Business owners
The Principle
Map of Belchford & Fulletby Parishes – the ‘Area’
Get In Touch!
Feel free to use the contact form below if you have any questions about the project.