Lurking within the Government’s draft new planning rules, which are currently the subject of public consultation, is a footnote - footnote 9, which threatens to undermine Neighbourhood plans and their usefulness to communities, by limiting their effective life to two years from being ‘passed at referendum’.

In order to keep their Neighbourhood Plans effective and communities protected, communities would have to review and up-date housing allocations and related policies and successfully complete full process including gaining the approval of examiners, all within the two year period.

Completing the renewal process within two-years would be an impossible task and would leave communities exposed and vulnerable to developer-imposed development until such time as they were able to produce an up-to-date and examiner approved new plan.

Preparation of Neighbourhood Plans requires considerable time, effort and money and the good will of communities to complete.

For the Government, which after all is an elected Government, to expect communities to renew their plans within an arbitrarily imposed two-year cycle is inequitable and crass.

The ‘proposed’ new planning rules are set out in the Draft Revised NPPF, the public consultation on which closes at 23.45 on 10 May; footnote 9 is to be found on page 7.

All who have been engaged, or are in engaged in the completion of Neighbourhood Plans, really should take part in the consultation and make their views known to the Government.

Yours faithfully,

Dr R F Smith

Trustee CPRE Sussex