The Kilmington Neighbourhood Plan

Applications for developments will be expected to clearly demonstrate how proposals meet the aims and objectives of the Neighbourhood Plan. Accordingly, proposers of development are strongly encouraged to engage with the Parish Council and the local community at the earliest opportunity prior to submission of a planning application stage to ensure local views and the aims and objectives of the Neighbourhood Plan are understood and taken account of.
What is a Neighbourhood Plan?

The Localism Act, which received Royal Assent on November 15 2011, introduced new rights and powers to allow local communities to shape new development by coming together to prepare neighbourhood plans. Neighbourhood planning enables communities to play a much stronger role in shaping the areas where they live and work.  

Unlike the parish or village plans prepared to date, a successful Neighbourhood Plan has statutory weight and status and it will become part of the districts ‘Development Plan’. Therefore it will be used when deciding planning applications within the designated Neighbourhood area. Future decisions on planning applications will therefore be made in accordance with both the EDDC Local Plan setting the strategic context within which Neighbourhood Plans will sit. Neighbourhood Plans can contain detailed policies to guide local authority decisions about planning applications.

This plan is our community’s opportunity to shape and guide development that will take place in Kilmington and make sure that it is appropriate to our needs and aspirations. We can have a real say in where it goes and how it looks!
Developing a Neighbourhood Plan

There is a process which must be followed before a Neighbourhood Plan can be put to a community referendum and legally come into force.  Moreover, it must take account of National Planning Policy and it must align with strategic policies in the EDDC Local Plan.
The parish council should consult with and work with other members of the community who are interested in, or affected by, the Neighbourhood Planning proposals to allow them to play an active role in preparing a Neighbourhood Plan or Order.

The basic stages in developing a Neighbourhood Plan are:

1.    Set up a neighbourhood planning group and have the plan area designated
2.    Collect evidence about the area and gather local views about priority issues
3.    Identify which issues we want to produce policies for
4.    Write a draft neighbourhood plan for the area
5.    Formally consult local residents and other interested parties with the draft
6.    Submit a final version of the plan for its examination by EDDC and an independent examiner.
7.    When approved (modifications may be necessary) hold a residents referendum to vote to adopt the plan.
Proportionate, robust evidence has to be included in the Plan to support the choices made and the approach taken. The evidence provided has to explain succinctly the intention and rationale of the policies in the draft Neighbourhood Plan or the proposals in an Order.
The Neighbourhood Planning Team reconsidered the appropriateness of the Kilmington Village Design Statement, nine years after its publication. It was clear the majority of the recommendations made are still very pertinent today.  The Village Character Assessment aligns with the Village Design Statement and brings it up-to-date including the most recent standards, design guidance and new requirements for protection of the environment and biodiversity.
Following the positive response from villagers to the production of the Kilmington Parish Plan it was agreed to create a more detailed document - The Village Design Statement 2011.

It was prepared by villagers following a lengthy consultation process within the community, approved by the Parish Council and endorsed by the East Devon District Council (EDDC) in October 2011. The advisory document sets out a series of recommendations in an attempt to protect the village, its rural setting, its character and its heritage.

The Village Design Statement has official standing as Supplementary Planning Guidance.
Following advice to Parish Councils from East Devon District Council in autumn 2002, Kilmington residents agreed, in 2007, to produce a Parish Plan to ensure there was a clear blueprint for local parish needs to be implemented by local and county authorities for the future development of the village.

Following its completion, the Kilmington Parish Plan was delivered to every home in the parish in July 2008. It is a summary of the views, needs and priorities (expressed by local residents) about key issues at that time, which they felt to be important to the future of their community - socially, economically and environmentally.
Click here to find out how the Design Statement and Parish Plan were created.