Decision

Summary of Decision

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Development has agreed:

   i.          That the recommendations of the Examiner as set out in the Council’s Decision Statement (refer to Appendix 1) and Examiner’s Report (refer to Appendices 3 and 4) be accepted.

 ii.          That in accordance with the Examiner’s recommendation, the Belgravia Neighbourhood Plan (refer to Appendix 2) and accompanying Belgravia Design Codes (refer Appendix 2A), as modified within the Examiner’s Report, proceed to local referendum.

iii.          That in accordance with the Examiner’s recommendation, the referendum area be restricted to the Neighbourhood Area designated by the Council on 27 March 2014 as the Belgravia Neighbourhood Area.

iv.          That in the event of a positive referendum result, the Executive Director of Innovation and Change be authorised to publish an Adoption Statement and formally ‘make’ (adopt) the plan.

Reasons for Decision

The Examiner’s recommendations will ensure the Belgravia Neighbourhood Plan is clear and effective as a framework for making decisions on planning applications in the Belgravia Neighbourhood Area.

The recommendations address the concerns raised by the Council during consultation and the subsequent examination, as well as matters raised by a number of other stakeholders during consultation. The cumulative effect of these modifications is that the plan is considered to meets the ‘basic conditions’ prescribed by legislation and discussed in greater detail Section 4 below.

Before a neighbourhood plan can be made, it is a statutory requirement that it is first subject to local referendum within the Neighbourhood Area, as well as any additional areas as considered appropriate by the Examiner. Before this happens, the Council must publish a Decision Statement setting out the actions it proposes to take in response to the Examiner’s Report. Where the Council decides to proceed to referendum, in the case of a successful majority vote in favour of the plan, the Council must formally ‘make’ the plan.