The Y&RI Neighbourhood Plan – Progress Update March 2019
The momentum to compete the plan is gathering speed – our consultant has now completed her review of the text of our draft document and has recommended a number of changes where our proposed policies require clarification or expansion. We are now working on these and are also beginning to produce the various appendices and supporting documents that will be required.
Dorset County have undertaken their Ecology survey (this is an essential contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment) of the selected sites and AECOM, who are providing technical assistance as part of the Locality Grant package, have now met us as part of their review of our site selection criteria and processes.
We now have their reports and we have been assessing these with our consultant (the AECOM report is 77 pages long!) and have made a number of comments which they are considering.
We also have to do our “End of Term” report to Locality which explains how we have used the funds that were allocated to us and identifies what still needs to be done.
Our volunteers have previously provided a number of photographs and maps and we will be seeking their help once more to amend or update these in the light of the proposed changes to the draft document.
The next big step is for The Parish Council to consult on the draft Neighbourhood Plan – the statutory Pre – Submission Consultation – and we are hopeful that we will have progressed to a point to enable them to do this in mid-May but this date is dependent on everything coming together at the same time.
The consultation period is for 6 weeks and we will then use the feedback to amend or review the draft document before finalising it, and the supporting information, for submission to Dorset Council in order that the review by the Independent Examiner can take place. Once this has been done, they will call a referendum so that the community can vote whether to accept the plan.