Agenda item

Before introducing the report, the Chairman again welcomed Chairman of Nettleham Parish Council, Councillor Angela White and Vice-Chairman of the Neighbourhood Planning Group John Evans to the meeting.

Members gave consideration to a report which sought Members’ approval to adopt the review of the neighbourhood plan for the parish of Nettleham.

Members were advised this would be the second reviewed neighbourhood plan to be adopted within West Lindsey and would replace the original neighbourhood plan for Nettleham to form part of the development plan and thereby have a major influence on planning application decisions in the Nettleham parish.

The Nettleham Neighbourhood Plan Review involved two rounds of public consultation and had been successful at both examination and referendum. The referendum, held on Thursday 26 September, saw residents voting 94.56% in favour of the plan with a turnout of nearly 27%

The Chairman moved the recommendations before inviting local Ward Member comment.  Councillor Barrett commended the Group for their excellent Plan, spoke of their commitment to getting the task completed, which was no easy feat and required dedication and hard work.  He paid tribute to Parish Councillor Mrs White, Mr Evans and all those involved, particularly Chris Higham, before seconding the report.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Parish Councillor Mrs White and Mr Evans made a short address to Council, as follows: -

“Good evening, Chair, Councillors, Chief Executive and Officers of the Council. I am Angela White, Chair of Nettleham Parish Council and member of the working group. I am accompanied by John Evans, former Chair of Nettleham Parish Council and Vice-Chair of the working group.

Thank you for this opportunity to present the Council with our reviewed Nettleham Neighbourhood Plan.

Our original Nettleham Neighbourhood Plan was presented to the Council and adopted in March 2016. It was the first in West Lindsey to be completed with development site allocations. It has been used many times to influence planning decisions for our Parish.

In view of the numerous changes to the NPPF and the CLLP review it was decided that our NP needed to be reviewed to ensure that the policies were not out of date.”

Mr Evans continued the address: -

“Our review which commenced in 2019 was funded mainly by Government grants of £18,000 through Locality.  It was originally intended to be a light touch modification, but in view of all the changes in planning law and the evolving CLLP a more detailed change was deemed necessary.  Of course Covid 19 played its part in slowing down the consultation process and we also wanted to pace our review with the details emerging in the CLLP review so we were consistent with that plan.

The review group comprised a total of 9, residents and parish councillors, approximately half had worked on the original plan, but new people were welcomed for their fresh ideas.  This work was preceded by a detailed Character Assessment of the village.  We have taken that information to identify green (biodiversity) corridors and design guides to influence the character of any new developments in the Parish. 

We were disappointed that unlike previously the CLLP team decided on new housing numbers and site allocations without prior meaningful consultation with local communities.  However we did at least manage to influence the designs of the allocated sites with our site specific design guides.

The Nettleham Neighbourhood Plan was taken to referendum on September 26, 2024 and received a vote in favour of 94% on a turnout of over 26%.”

Concluding the address, the Chairman of the Parish Council, Councillor Mrs White thanked her colleagues on the working group for their commitment and hard work over the past 5 years: Chair, Chris Higham; Vice–Chair John Evans; Cllr John Barrett; Cllr Christine Johnson; Malcolm Leaning; Richard Porter; Terry Williams and Carol Worthington and at West Lindsey Nev Brown, the Neighbourhood Planning Officer and Katie Storr and her team for organising the Referendum.  Particular thanks were expressed to Luke Brown, the Group’s planning consultant for his expert help and guidance over the past 5 years and Jan Austin for her excellent Character Assessment.

The Chairman of Council then formally received the Plan from the Chairman of the Parish Council and Mr Evans to a round of applause from all Members.

Debate ensued with both the Leader of Council and Leader of Opposition congratulating the Group on their achievements, with the Leader commenting on how he was inspired by the community involvement, with some of those mentioned in acknowledgements, having served the community for over 50 years.  Full recognition of the effort required to complete a Neighbourhood Plan was paid.

The weight, which would now be given to the document when considering planning applications, was also recognised demonstrating how communities could get involved and shape their communities. 

Having been proposed and seconded on being put to the vote it was

RESOLVED that: -

(a)    the reviewed Nettleham Neighbourhood Plan be adopted (made) in accordance with the Neighbourhood Planning Regulations 2012; and

(b)    the newly adopted (made) Nettleham Neighbourhood Plan Review September 2024, replace the Nettleham Neighbourhood Plan adopted in March 2016, to form part of the West Lindsey Development Plan for Nettleham parish area.

Following a further round of applause the visitors left the meeting at this point.