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That the Sherborne
and Yeohead & Castleton area (comprising the
parishes of Sherborne, Castleton, Oborne, Poyntington and Goathill) be designated a
neighbourhood area. 

 

Scheme of delegation 

 

Under the Officer Scheme of Delegation (April 2019), the
Executive Director of Place has the power to ‘make a final determination as to
whether to designate a neighbourhood plan area and/or make such an area a
business area’. 

 

The Local Scheme of Nomination (April 2022) sets
out which functions have been nominated by the Executive Director of Place and
any conditions or limitations. This includes the power to ‘make a final determination as to whether
to designate a neighbourhood plan area
and/or make such an area a business area’.  

 

The conditions/limitations are ‘Provided that this does not include power to
make: (i) a final determination as to whether
to designate a neighbourhood plan
area unless in his/her opinion: 

   
(A) there is insufficient time to have the
matter considered by the relevant committee as part of the normal
committee cycle;  

   
(B) the Council is legally obliged to approve the designation; and/or  

   
(C) there has been no objection to the proposal submitted to the
Council within any relevant time for the submission of representations which
has not been withdrawn;’ 

 

The Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 (as
amended) state under regulation 5A that where a local planning authority
receives an area application from a parish council; the area specified in the
application consists of the whole of the parish council’s area; and if any part
of the specified area is part of a neighbourhood area, none of that
neighbourhood area extends outside the parish council’s area. The local
planning authority must exercise their powers under section 61G of the 1990 Act
to designate the specified area as a neighbourhood area. Regulation
5A paragraph (3) clarifies that in these circumstances there is no requirement
to consult.  

 

The
conditions within the Officer Scheme of Delegation / Local Scheme of Nomination
have been met and a decision can be made. 

 

Reasons for the decision

Neighbourhood Area designation 

 

A
proposed Sherborne and Yeohead &
Castleton Neighbourhood Area has been submitted by Sherborne
Town Council. The application includes consent from Yeohead and Castleton Group Parish Council.  

 

The Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 (as
amended) state under regulation 5A that: 

 

…where─  

(a)  a local planning authority receives an area
application from a parish council; 

(b)  the area specified in the application consists of
the whole of the parish council’s area; and 

(c)  if any part of the specified area is part of a
neighbourhood area, none of that neighbourhood area extends outside the parish
council’s area. 

 

The
local planning authority must exercise their powers under section 61G of
the 1990 Act to designate the specified area as a neighbourhood
area. 

 

At the same time regulation 5A paragraph (3) outlines that
under the circumstances set out in paragraph (1), above, there is no
requirement for a local planning authority to consult on the proposed
neighbourhood area. 

 

These provisions are summarised in Paragraph 032 (Reference
ID: 41-032-20170728) of the neighbourhood planning section of the national
Planning Practice Guidance (PPG). This states: 

 

‘Where a parish council applies for the whole of the area of
the parish to be designated as a neighbourhood area, the local
planning authority must designate the whole of the area applied for.
This includes where a parish applies to extend its existing neighbourhood area
to its parish boundary. Exceptions to this are where the area applied for: 

 

has
already been designated as a neighbourhood area which extends
beyond the parish boundary; or 

forms
part of another application that has not yet been determined. 

 

Sherborne
Town Council and Yeohead & Castleton
Group parish have applied to have the whole
of their area designated as a neighbourhood area. The area
specified in the application does not extend beyond their parish
boundaries and does not overlap with other neighbourhood areas
already designated or applied for and awaiting determination.  

 

Regulation 5A of the Neighbourhood Planning (General)
Regulations 2012 (as amended) therefore applies to the application received
from Sherborne Town Council.
To this end there is no requirement to consult on the application and Dorset
Council must exercise its powers under section 61G of the Town and Country
Planning Act 1990 to designate the Sherborne and Yeohead & Castleton area as a neighbourhood
area.  

 

Alternative options considered

Business Area 

 

Section 61H of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, as
amended by the Localism Act 2011, requires that when designating a
neighbourhood area, a local planning authority should consider whether the area
concerned should be designated as a ‘business area’. If a business
area is designated, local businesses would have the opportunity to be more
involved in the formation of the neighbourhood plan and would get an
opportunity to vote (alongside registered electors) in the later referendum on
whether the neighbourhood plan should come into force. However, this section of
the Act is clear that a neighbourhood area should only
be designated as a business area if it is ‘wholly or predominantly
business in nature’. 

 

Since the built-up areas of Sherborne and Yeohead & Castleton are predominantly
residential in nature, it is not considered appropriate
to designate the proposed neighbourhood area as a business area.