Neighbourhood Plan About

At its meeting on July 30, 2018 the Parish Council approved the decision to proceed with the creation of a Neighbourhood Plan.

This process should enable the community to have a greater influence on future development within the Parish. This will not replace the provisions of the National Planning Policy Framework or Harrogate Borough Council's Local Plan but it will work alongside these, and by enabling us to provide a greater degree of community input, it should help to bring about the type of planned environment where we can all continue to be happy to live and work in the years to come.

The Neighbourhood Plan process will take some time to complete - years rather than months - but work is now underway.

BACKGROUND

In 2002 the Village Design Statement Kirkby Malzeard 2002. was created by the community and whilst there are some similarities, the Neighbourhood Plan will be legally enforceable and will be more wide reaching in its scope.

DESIGNATING THE PLAN AREA

In March 2019 the Parish Council made an application to Harrogate Borough Council for the designation of the Neighbourhood Plan Area. Having discussed this, the Council was of the view that the obvious area was this Parish as a whole, rather than only part of the Parish (such as just Kirkby Malzeard village) or a wider area incorporating other Parishes or villages. 

However in case any neighbouring areas felt strongly that they should be included or had concerns about the proposal, we wrote to each of the adjoining Parish Councils to formally advise them of our intentions. We asked for a response by early December 2018 and those who replied, did not raise any concerns. The opportunity for anyone who lives works or operates within the Parish to let us have their comments was also provided, and no concerns were raised.

This is the Supporting Statement submitted to Harrogate Borough Council with our application which explains what we hope to achieve and the topics it will cover: KMLDPC Neighbourhood Plan Supporting Statement  

Approval was granted by Harrogate Borough Council for the Designation of the Plan Area in April 2019 enabling us to commence work on preparing the Plan:  Decision Notice KMLD N Plan. 

FORMATION OF A STEERING GROUP

The Parish Council then created a Steering Group to carry out the work of drawing up the Plan, being an advisory committee of the Council. This Group comprises a number of the Councillors and, importantly, also a number of residents.

Members:

Current: Claire Walker (Chair), Cllr Chris Floyd, Cllr Geoffrey Berry, Fiona Robertshaw, Marlon Johnson, Phil Smalley, Peter Saxon and Cllr Richard Hughes.

Previous Resident Members: Michael Jordan, Peter Cooper, Mike Hurford, Rebecca Mann, Alan Brownlee, Anne Hancock and Howard Mountain (who is now the current Steering Group Secretary/Treasurer).

If you are interested in also being involved please contact us on kmldpc@btinternet.com You do not need to have any specific expertise, just an interest in what happens to the area in which you live.The 'Terms of Reference' of the Steering Group are set out in this document : 
Neighbourhood-Plan-Steering Group-Terms-of-Reference Version October 2022.

CONSULTATION

Having formed the Steering Group, work then commenced on establishing what the community wished to see included within the Plan, specifically in terms of Policies and Parish Actions. The first phase of this process was to gather Initial Ideas during which the main topics were identified. Following that the Group undertook a Public Consultation (with residents and those who worked or operated in the area) and a Stakeholder Consultation (with major employers, local groups and organisations). The results of the Public Consultation are available within the 'News and Information' section of these Neighbourhood Plan pages. This process was delayed due to the Covid Pandemic being finally completed in 2021.

THE DRAFT PLAN

The next step was to draw up a Draft Plan with the help of our Planning Consultant Andrew Towlerton Associates. To establish the views of the community on this document we undertook a further round of consultation over the winter of 2023, the results of which are also available in the News and Information section.

The Group considered the responses it had received and made various amendments to the Plan prior to the formal (Regulation 14) Pre-submission consultation which commenced on 8th July 2024 and will run unitil 6th September.

NEXT

The Pre-submission responses will be considered and any necessary amendments made, before the Plan is submitted to the Local Planning Authority. It will then be examined by an Indepaendent Examiner, and ultimately will then be put before the community at a Referendum at which they will determine whether or not it is approved. If it is approved it will then be granted legal status and will form part of the process used to decide Planning Applications.