Purpose

To seek approval that the Draft Ecclesfield Parish Neighbourhood Plan can proceed to the next stages of the neighbourhood plan process, which is consultation and subsequently examination.

Decision

1. The Draft Neighbourhood Plan is publicised on the Council’s website for a period of at least 6 weeks in accordance with Regulation 16 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 ("the Regulations");
2. Consultation bodies are notified of receipt of the Draft Neighbourhood Plan in accordance with Regulation 16(b) of the Regulations;
3. An examiner is appointed with the consent of Ecclesfield Parish Council in accordance with paragraphs 7(4) and 7(6) of Schedule 4B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 ("the 1990 Act") (as applied to Neighbourhood Plans by section 38A of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004)
4. The Draft Neighbourhood Plan is submitted to the appointed examiner for independent examination after expiry of the abovementioned publicity period, in accordance with paragraph 7(2) of Schedule 4B of the 1990 Act and Regulation 17 of the Regulations.

Reasons for the decision

The submission of a neighbourhood plan to the Local Planning Authority is strictly guided by legislation and regulations, as set out in the report above. A local planning authority must accept the submission of a neighbourhood plan and proceed to the next stage in the process if it has met all the necessary statutory rules.

Evaluation of the submission has revealed no issues that would warrant rejection of the submitted plan and supporting documents. Furthermore, the City Council also recognises the importance of developing Neighbourhood Plans and welcomes the next stages of the process with respect to the Ecclesfield Neighbourhood Plan.

Alternative options considered

The submission of a neighbourhood plan to the Local Planning Authority is a statutory process. As documents have been submitted in accordance with Regulation 15 of the Neighbourhood Planning Regulations 2012, no alternative options are considered appropriate.