Community-Led Planning
October 17, 2018
With 176 Town and Parish Councils and more than 112,000 people living in the National Park, Community Led Plans are a vital way for us to understand the concerns and aspiration of our local communities.
In 2013 the SDNPA agreed a process to adopt or endorse Community Led Plans in the National Park. This formally recognises the plans and makes sure that they are given the maximum level of weight and influence when determining planning applications.
Whilst Community Led Plans such as Parish Plans, Village Design Statements and Local Landscape Character Assessments cannot carry the same level of influence as a Neighbourhood Plan they are a material consideration once adopted or endorsed by the Authority.
Over the last five years the SDNPA has adopted five Village Design Statements (VDS). These describe the distinctive character of a village or town and its surrounding countryside. The community can draw up design guidelines based on that distinctive local character to help planners, developers and householders better understand local issues, and community aspirations for design. The SDNPA have adopted VDS in Buriton, East Dean and Friston, Liss, Lodsworth and Worldham. We are working with Hambledon, West Meon and Selborne on the final stages of their VDS preparation before they are considered for adoption.
The South Downs Local Plan proposes a landscape-led approach to design and we are now updating our Community Planning toolkit to ensure that this approach is adopted in Community Led Plans.
We are working closely with Easebourne Parish Council and Jevington Parish who are testing the new toolkit as they prepare the first landscape-led VDSs in the National Park.
If you are interested in preparing a community led plan, please contact us so we can discuss the process, what the SDNPA expect and what support we may be able to offer. You can email us on communityplanning@southdowns.gov.uk