In recent years, local communities have tended to feel excluded from the formal development planning process and unable to influence development in the towns and villages where they live. The Localism Act has now changed this top-down approach to planning by empowering communities to have a greater say about the decisions that affect them and where they live and enabling them to prepare plans for their local area.
Neighbourhood Planning is, quite simply, a process for communities to use to carry out a community-led planning project for their area. It provides easy-to-follow steps for consulting the community and writing a plan in a way that takes into account all of the many different aspects that contribute to making a sustainable and successful community. To make Neighbourhood Planning work, local people need to get involved and work together for the benefit of the whole community. By sharing valuable local knowledge, individuals can help to make a real difference to their community. Local people are often the best source of information about their local area and better decisions can be made by tapping into this wealth of knowledge. However, it requires a lot of time and effort from those leading the project and a real commitment to getting the whole community behind the plan for the area.
Neighbourhood Planning is, quite simply, a process for communities to use to carry out a community-led planning project for their area. It provides easy-to-follow steps for consulting the community and writing a plan in a way that takes into account all of the many different aspects that contribute to making a sustainable and successful community. To make Neighbourhood Planning work, local people need to get involved and work together for the benefit of the whole community. By sharing valuable local knowledge, individuals can help to make a real difference to their community. Local people are often the best source of information about their local area and better decisions can be made by tapping into this wealth of knowledge. However, it requires a lot of time and effort from those leading the project and a real commitment to getting the whole community behind the plan for the area.
