Purpose

Purpose
 

1.      
The purpose of this report is to agree the
Council’s response to the Regulation 16 public consultation
on the submission version of the Heydon Neighbourhood Plan
(“the Neighbourhood Plan”). The consultation closes on
09 February 2026.
 
Background
 

2.      
The Heydon Neighbourhood Area (“the
Neighbourhood Area”) was designated on 15 March 2024. The
Neighbourhood Area covers the whole of the Civil Parish of
Heydon.
 

3.      
Officers have met with the Neighbourhood Plan
Steering Group ahead of the submission consultation process and
recognise the hard work that has been put into preparing the
Neighbourhood Plan. The Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group
has worked hard to engage with the local community and has
ensured that they have had an opportunity to input into the
creation of the Neighbourhood Plan.
 

4.      
A Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and
Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) screening was undertaken on a
draft version of the Neighbourhood Plan, and a Screening
Determination Statement was published in April 2025.
 

5.      
Pre-submission public consultation on the draft
Neighbourhood Plan was undertaken by the Neighbourhood Plan
Steering Group between 09 May 2025 and 20 June 2025.
Officers provided a formal response to the
consultation, providing constructive comments about the
Neighbourhood Plan to assist the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group
with the preparation of the Neighbourhood Plan. Officers have met
with the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group to discuss these
comments and are aware that the submission version of the
Neighbourhood Plan has taken on board many of the suggested
changes.
 

6.      
On 01 December 2025, the Neighbourhood Plan Steering
Group submitted their Neighbourhood Plan to South Cambridgeshire
District Council (“the District Council”). Officers have confirmed, as
set out in the Legal Compliance Check for the Neighbourhood Plan,
that the submitted version of the Neighbourhood Plan and its
accompanying supporting documents comply with all the relevant
statutory requirements at this stage of plan-making.
The Neighbourhood Plan and its accompanying
supporting documents are published on the Greater Cambridge Shared
Planning website:
Heydon Neighbourhood
Plan.
 

7.      
After receiving the submission version of the Neighbourhood Plan,
we are carrying out a consultation on the Neighbourhood Plan
between 15 December 2025 and 09 February 2026 (in accordance with
the requirements set out by Regulation 16 of The Neighbourhood
Planning (General) Regulations 2012).
 

8.      
Officers, in conjunction with the Neighbourhood Plan
Steering Group, are in the process of appointing an independent
examiner to consider the Neighbourhood Plan. All comments submitted
during the public consultation on the submission version of the
Neighbourhood Plan will be provided to the appointed examiner for
their consideration.
 
Considerations
 

9.      
The Neighbourhood Plan has been prepared by the
Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group to set out planning policies for
development specific to the Neighbourhood Area, with the aim of
providing greater clarity when determining planning applications in
the Neighbourhood Area. The Neighbourhood Plan includes 13 planning
policies that cover a range of issues including:
·      
Landscape character
·      
The historic environment and heritage
assets

·      
Biodiversity and protecting the area’s
ecology

·      
Housing supply

·      
Community facilities
·      
Sustainable design and construction
 

10.   
To succeed at examination and proceed to a
referendum, a neighbourhood plan must meet a
number of tests known as the ‘Basic Conditions’.
These tests are different to the tests of soundness that a local
plan must meet. The
Basic Conditions are set out in national
planning guidance and are summarised as follows:

a)   
having regard to national policies and advice contained in guidance
issued by the Secretary of State, it is appropriate to make the
neighbourhood plan.

b)   
the making of the neighbourhood plan contributes to the achievement
of sustainable development.

c)    
the neighbourhood plan is in general conformity with the strategic
policies contained in the development plan for the area.

d)   
the making of the neighbourhood plan does not breach, and is
otherwise compatible with, EU obligations.

e)   
prescribed conditions are met in relation to the neighbourhood
plan, including that the making of the neighbourhood plan is not
likely to have a significant effect on a European wildlife site or
a European offshore marine site, either alone or in combination
with other plans or projects.

f)     
the making of the neighbourhood plan does not breach the
requirements of Chapter 8 of Part 6 of the Conservation of Habitats
and Species Regulations 2017.

11.   
Our
Neighbourhood Planning Toolkit
includes further details on each of the
Basic Conditions. When a neighbourhood plan is submitted to the
local planning authority, it must be accompanied by a Basic
Conditions Statement that sets out how the parish council or local
steering group has considered that their plan meets the Basic
Conditions.
 

12.   
When considering a neighbourhood plan, the examiner
will assess whether or not the
neighbourhood plan meets the
Basic Conditions. When an examiner recommends that the
neighbourhood plan should proceed to referendum (if it meets the
Basic Conditions, with or without modifications), the
examiner’s report must also set out whether the referendum
area should be extended beyond the neighbourhood area. Comments
made during the current consultation on the submission version of
the Neighbourhood Plan, which will be provided to the examiner for
their consideration, should therefore address whether the submitted
Neighbourhood Plan meets the Basic Conditions and can also address
whether the referendum area should be extended beyond the
Neighbourhood Area.
 

13.   
The District Council is fully supportive of parish
councils bringing forward neighbourhood plans for their areas,
including Heydon Parish Council’s decision to prepare a
Neighbourhood Plan. Officers have been supporting the Neighbourhood
Plan Steering Group in the Neighbourhood Plan’s preparation.
The District Council’s proposed response to this public
consultation on the submission version of the Neighbourhood Plan is
set out in Appendix A.
 

14.   
The District Council is supportive of the aims of
the Heydon Neighbourhood Plan, and our comments are intended to
help the Neighbourhood Plan to be successful at examination, as
well as delivering policies that are clear in their meaning and are
unambiguous in their interpretation. The District Council
recognises the achievement of the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group
in reaching this stage of the plan-making process and submitting
their submission version of the Neighbourhood Plan.
 

15.   
If the examiner is minded to
recommend that the Neighbourhood Plan should proceed to
referendum, the District Council does not feel that the referendum
area needs to be extended beyond the designated Neighbourhood Area
as the planning policies included in the Neighbourhood Plan
would not have a substantial, direct or demonstrable impact beyond
the Neighbourhood Area.

Content

That
the Lead Cabinet Member for Planning agrees the response to the
submission consultation on the Heydon Neighbourhood Plan as set out
in Appendix A.

Reasons for the decision

The
Council has a duty to support parish councils in preparing
neighbourhood plans and is keen to support these local communities
so that their plan is successful at examination. The response will
provide the independent examiner with the Council’s comments
on the Heydon Neighbourhood Plan.

Alternative options considered

An
alternative option would be for the Council not to respond to the
submission consultation, but the Council has a duty to support
parish councils in their plan-making. If no response is made, the
Parish Council and the independent examiner would not be made aware
of the Council’s views.