Neighbourhood Plans
ONH has been on the road around Hampshire this month conducting site visits with our Neighbourhood Plan clients. Site visits are an important first stage of Neighbourhood Planning. The visits give local steering groups, and the ONH team, an opportunity to consider the strengths, opportunities and challenges about an area, in person, as they explore together.
ONH offer a comprehensive neighbourhood planning consultancy service, including policy drafting, stakeholder engagement, site assessments, examination and project management for new or reviewed plans.
First up was Silchester where the ONH team met with AECOM and Silchester Parish Council for a tour of this historic village. The unusually well-preserved Roman walls and amphitheatre is a popular tourist draw, while the village itself has a number of charming features, from a primary school nestled in the woods to a pub on the village green.
Next came Fawley, on the coast. The Fawley Complex refinery is a unique feature of the area, visible from great distances, and as one resident put it "the lights guide us home at night". We were taken to Fawley's beautiful beaches, a nature reserve, a local brewery and more! Fawley is one of a number of parishes ONH represent in the New Forest (and adjacent) area.
Funding
Grant funding for Neighbourhood Plans is still available through Locality, with all funds to be used by 31st March 2025. If you would like to use this grant to hire consultants to manage or guide you through the process we strongly recommend that you apply as soon as possible, as applications can take some time to process. Grants are also available for support on technical support packages, which provide evidence in areas such as housing, regeneration, climate change and environmental improvement.
Funding is available for parish, town and community councils; and neighbourhood plan forums in unparished areas. If you have any questions about funding, we are happy to speak to you.
Local Plans
We are starting to see knock-on effects from recent government planning changes. Yesterday morning inspectors for Solihull Local Plan concluded that Solihull’s Local Plan should be withdrawn from Examination, due to a significant shortfall of land supply for the borough.
If there are changes to Local Plans in your area, including consultations, and you would like advice on behalf of your parish or community group about how to respond, please get in touch.
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