Designated Neighbourhood Areas - England

The parish of Wye with Hinxhill is just one of over 2,882* designated Neighbourhood Areas across England (DLUHC, *November 2021).

Planning Resource maintains an interactive version of the map to show the distribution of designated Neighbourhood Areas by local planning authority. (the darker the red the greater number of designated areas).

The Planning Resource website also provides a table with a detailed breakdown of the number of draft neighbourhood plans in process, listed by authority, alongside the number of made (adopted) plans and the district deprivation score. Hereford and Cornwall are leading the way with 114 and 125 designated neighbourhood plan areas respectively. Whereas Ashford has 11 designated areas.

Planning Resource reported in December 2021 that 'a study published by Reading University last year found 40 per cent of all neighbourhood planning activity was split evenly across the South West and South East of England. The East and West Midlands accounted for 25 per cent of neighbourhood planning activity while the North East was home to just three per cent. In addition, the paper found "the majority" of local authorities that had seen no neighbourhood planning activity were located in urban areas.'

There are eleven designated neighbourhood areas within the borough of Ashford. Wye and three other parishes have made (adopted) neighbourhood plans. The other seven parishes with designated neighbourhood area status have plans at various stages of preparation.

Neighbourhood Plans once 'made' i.e. adopted, become part of the statutory development plan for that area and the local planning authority (Ashford Borough Council) will be used in determining planning applications in the following parishes within Ashford borough:

1. Wye Neighbourhood Plan made 2016
2. Pluckley Neighbourhood Plan made 2017 (now undergoing its first review)
3. Rolvenden Neighbourhood Plan made 2019
4. Boughton Aluph and Eastwell Neighbourhood Plan made 2021

The following parishes within Ashford borough are designated formally as 'neighbourhood areas' under the Localism Act (2011), and are in the process of developing their neighbourhood plans.

1. Bethersden Neighbourhood Plan (plan withdrawn during Examination)
2. Charing Neighbourhood Plan
3. Egerton Neighbourhood Plan
4. Hothfield Neighbourhood Plan
5. Tenterden Neighbourhood Plan
6. Smarden Neighbourhood Plan
7. Aldington and Bonnington Neighbourhood Plan

A neighbourhood plan may only be prepared and submitted for examination by a qualifying body, which in parished areas is the parish or town council. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) states (para. 29) that 'Neighbourhood planning gives communities the power to develop a shared vision for their area. Neighbourhood plans can shape, direct and help to deliver sustainable development, by influencing local planning decisions as part of the statutory development plan' Furthermore, the NPPF states that 'Neighbourhood plans should not promote less development than set out in the strategic policies for the area, or undermine those strategic policies'.