Southwell Town Council is reviewing its Neighbourhood Plan which was made in October 2016.
The primary purpose of the review has been to correct minor errors and omissions, to update text and maps in the light of developments since the initial Plan, to update the evidence base, to tighten up Environmental Policies in the light of the declarations of climate emergencies made by the County, District and Town Councils. We also wish to translate the Design Guide into Design Codes in response to the recent Government Planning White Paper “Planning for the Future”.
We now invite expressions of interest from qualified Town Planning Consultants who wish to tender for working with the Town Council to check the Review for soundness and to steer the Review through the Consultation stages. The Tender documents will list the tasks in more detail.
The existing Neighbourhood Plan, which includes background to the town itself, may be found on the Newark and Sherwood District Council Website here https://www.newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/southwellneighbourhoodplan/
Candidates must demonstrate experience of the Neighbourhood Planning Process.
Preference will be given to candidates who live or normally work within 90 minutes travelling time of Southwell and who are familiar with the area.
Please send expressions of interest to The Clerk, Southwell Town Council, The Old Courthouse, Burgage, Southwell NG25 0EP or by Email clerk@southwell-tc.gov.uk.
The closing date is 12noon on 3rd November 2021
Review of our Neighbourhood Plan
Draft Proposals: Click the image to enlarge
The Neighbourhood Plan, which became part of the District Council’s Planning Policy in 2016, is due to be updated. Over the last 18 months a team of four Councillors and eight volunteers has been reviewing the Plan and proposing revisions. These are necessary in some cases because of changes to National and Local Policies, including the declaration of a climate emergency by the County, District and Town Councils, and the need to move towards a carbon neutral future. In addition, the Plan has not always had the intended effect at the District Council’s planning process, despite being supported by a referendum of Southwell’s residents.
Since the District Council has not allocated any more houses to Southwell, the review does not propose any additional housing sites over and above those in the original plan. The main changes are a strengthening of policies to safeguard our environment and to require developers to construct houses with more environmentally friendly features. Other policies are being revised to respond to changing circumstances over the last six years.
The Council has obtained grants to cover the cost of Planning Consultants who are working on elements of the scheme outside the expertise of our team. We are hoping that they will finish their work in September which will enable us to consult with you, our residents sometime in October.
We will be doing this through a series of meetings and workshops, and we hope that you will be able to join us and help shape the future of Southwell together with Normanton and Maythorne, the other villages in our parish. We will have more details in the October Bramley.