Introduction
The purpose of the Neighbourhood Development Plan is to express the views of the Community – to Planners and Developers alike.
The Neighbourhood Development Plan…
- has real legal weight, equivalent to that of the Wiltshire Local Plan,
- will provide the planning strategy for Bratton Parish Council.
Having a ‘Made’ Plan also results in an increased payment to the Parish by developers.
Not having a NDP would makes it more difficult to object to speculative Planning Applications or ‘out of character’ buildings in Bratton.
The Development Process
The NDP is therefore produced using a pre-defined, painstaking and lengthy process that is defined by statute. This is how Bratton’s NDP production process has been managed…
(Note: In the diagram, the green lozenge encompasses the processes managed by Bratton Parish Council, and the orange one covers the processes which Wiltshire Council manages.)
Current Status
The process started in 2018, when initial community priorities were identified and agreed by the Bratton Parish Council. These have been developed and aligned with national and Wiltshire Council planning procedures over the intervening months.
The first published draft of Bratton’s Neighbourhood Development Plan was put out to local consultation – a process referred to as ‘Regulation 14’ in July 2024.
The responses to the consultation were then used to refine the documents, in preparation for the next stage of the process, which was to submit the NDP to Wiltshire Council, for further consultation.
The Wiltshire led consultation (Regulation 16) has recently concluded, and Bratton is preparing its response to the further comments raised during the consultation. These will be submitted, along with all Bratton’s NDP documents, to an Independent Examiner, for scrutiny against the requirement for Neighbourhood Plans to be accepted.
Looking Ahead
The Examiner will put his findings to Wiltshire Council, with any request for further changes to the NDP documents that may be deemed necessary.
When the Examiner has been satisfied, Bratton’s Neighbourhood Development Plan will then be put to a referendum vote by Bratton’s registered voters. We are hopeful that this will take place at the same time as the Council elections on 1st May 2025 (and we know that Wiltshire Council is expecting there to be votes on 5 Neighbourhood Plans across Wiltshire), but this timing depends upon the nature of the findings of the Examiner.
When the Bratton electorate have voted to accept the Neighbourhood Development Plan, it becomes designated as ‘Made’, and becomes part of Wiltshire’s planning process going forward.