Breinton’s Neighbourhood Development Plan was approved by 97% of voters in a Parish Referendum in November 2016. It was formally ‘made’ i.e. added to the planning framework for Herefordshire in December 2016.
How we gained approval for Breinton’s Neighbourhood Development Plan
Finally after 33 months of intense local effort, numerous consultation and thousands of hours of voluntary time, Herefordshire Council were able to complete the plan making process on December 1st 2016. The Plan approved so comprehensively in the Parish Referendum in November is now part of the planning framework for Herefordshire along with Herefordshire’s own Core Strategy (Local Plan) and the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework. The Neighbourhood Development Plan truly is a plan written by local people and will guide proportionate development and infrastructure in Breinton through to 2031. The Parish Council will review the Plan on a regular basis between now and then.
Going forward
The Parish Council will now get on and assess all the planning applications it is consulted upon against the approved planning policies. Herefordshire Council will have to do the same. The Parish Council will also start work on other issues which were mentioned during the various consultations that shaped the Plan but which the Plan could not address. For instance all the consultations showed significant levels of concern about traffic speeding along our lanes, We could also look at establishing Conservation Areas in the Parish. The area of Lower Breinton around St Michael’s church, Breinton Springs and the moated site is one such special place. The support of local residents will be necessary for any part of the Parish to be designated even if it met any criteria and Herefordshire Council could be persuaded to act.
The Council proposes to set up an Environment and Amenities Working Group to take the ideas forward as well as consider any others parishoners may suggest.
Referendum Result – 97% support
Breinton’s Referendum took place as planned on Thursday November 3rd 2016. The notice of poll can be viewed here
Five other parishes in Herefordshire also held their referendums at the same time.
Breinton’s turnout was 37.7% easily comparable with the proportion of voters in local (Herefordshire) council elections.
There were 273 votes cast. Of these there were 266 votes YES i.e in favour of the Neighbourhood Development Plan. This is an amazing 97.4% of voters and is still the highest ‘YES’ vote for any Neighbourhood Plan in the whole of Herefordshire. There were 7 votes against the Plan (No) or 2.6%.
Official confirmation of the result can be viewed here
Thank you
A HUGE ‘Thank you’ to everyone who voted in the Parish Referendum. This level of support is wonderful and shows that the Plan really does address the planning issues that concern our local community. The Plan brings a wealth of local detail to the attention of Herefordshire’s Planning Department and the councillors on the Planning Committee. This helps ensure that all decisions about development in the Parish are taken in the full knowledge of the issues that local residents care about most and helps to ensure that Breinton’s future development is appropriate for a rural, environmentally sensitive and distinctive parish.
Now that the local population has overwhelmingly approved the Plan, Herefordshire Council will complete the administrative process to ‘make’ the Plan legally part of the local planning framework. However; the policies within the Plan have to be taken fully into account in every planning application in Breinton FROM NOW onwards. The YES vote in the Referendum was the final hurdle to jump before these policies could carry a significant weight in any such decisions.
More about Breinton
You can find out more about Breinton and the information that fed into the development plan here.