Neighbourhood Plan

Your Parish has an active Neighbourhood Plan, developed with and voted by you and your neighbours.  The plan was formally accepted by Broadland District Council following a referendum on Thursday 25 June 2015 with a 96% vote in favour to adopt the Great & Little Plumstead Neighbourhood Development Plan.

The Plumsteads Neighbourhood plan was developed over the course of 2013 and 2014 and drafted by a volunteer steering group that included parish council members, local resident association members, representatives from the local community and land owners. Support was provided by Broadland District Council, Department for Communities and Local Government through Locality, in association with he Royal Town Planning Institute, Planning aid England, Community Development Foundation and other partners.

What are neighbourhood plans?

The Localism Act 2011 introduced powers for parish/town councils to produce a new type of community-led plan known as a Neighbourhood Development Plan (or Neighbourhood Plan for short). These plans will set out policies on the development and use of land in a parish or ‘neighbourhood area’.

Once such a plan is made, and adopted, it will become part of the Local Plan for Broadland District Council. This means that it will become a main consideration in the determination of planning applications relating to that area.

In order for any Neighbourhood Development Plans to be adopted, they will need to be in general conformity with strategic planning policies at the local, national and European level. They will also need to demonstrate support from the local community.

Neighbourhood Development Plans differ from Parish Plans in that they purely focus on planning and the environment, they have to follow a statutory process, and they ultimately become part of the statutory development plan.

[source - Broadland District Council]

The Plumstead Neighbourhood Plan incorporates 8 policies across 5 key themes.  In addition there are 5 Community Aspirational policies and 3 Development Proposals. A summary of the policies are below but please see the Neighbourhood Plan document for more details and context.

Theme 1 - Growth

Policy 1 - New development will respect and retain the integrity of the villages as distinct settlements, protecting their character as individual villages.

Theme 2 - Design

Policy 2 - New development should deliver high quality design (full list in plan) to include appropriate scale and density, integrate into existing communities, sensitive to local character, provide mix of housing types to meet local needs, roads that meet requirements of the Highway Authority, provide a garage for each dwelling, provide where feasible car parking standards (see table) linked to number of bedrooms, adequate refuse storage space and encourage provision of at least 5% of land as self-build plots.

Theme 3 - Transport

Policy 3 - All new developments should maximise opportunities to walk and cycle between villages

Policy 4 - New development proposals where appropriate, will be expected to quantify the level of traffic they are likely to generate.

Theme 4 - Environment and Landscape

Policy 5 - Green infrastructure should aim to improve biodiversity and connections with existing green spaces

Policy 6 - Developer should demonstrate an effective and sustainable programme for managing green infrastructure (open spaces, recreational areas, allotments and community woodlands)

Theme 5 - The Local Economy

Policy 7 - Encourage appropriate employment uses that contribute to social fabric of the villages

Policy 8 - Development of new 'superfast broadband' infrastructure that serves the parish will be supported

Community Aspirational Policies

  1. Changing Room Facilities at Great Plumstead Playing Field
  2. Footpath Improvements (Water Lane)
  3. Provision of a New Bus Stop (Great Plumstead opposite existing shelter)
  4. Junction Improvements at Brick Kilns Public House
  5. Woodland Walk Extension (Thorpe End)

Development Proposals

  1. Rosebery Road Exception Site
  2. New Access Road (Old Hospital Site)
  3. Cycle & Footbridge for Low Road

Do contact the Parish Council if you have any queries regarding the Neighbourhood Plan and thank you for overwhelmingly voting in favour for it to be adopted.