Neighbourhood plan to go to referendum

Edgmond Parish Council, near Newport, has worked with members of the public and Harper Adams University to produce its neighbourhood plan, which is intended to represent the views of the local community on future development in the parish.

During a meeting of Telford & Wrekin Council, members unanimously voted to support the planning document, meaning that it will now go to a public referendum in coming months.

It was put forward by deputy leader Richard Overton and seconded by council leader Shaun Davies.

If the policies are approved by the public, the neighbourhood plan will have to be taken into account when developers try to build within the Edgmond area.

Councillor Robert Higginson, chairman of Edgmond Parish Council said: "The people of Edgmond supported us as we were confident that we could protect and enhance our parish from future inappropriate development.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been involved in the process and to encourage the residents of Edgmond to vote in the referendum, which is likely to be in April, in favour of Telford & Wrekin Council using the Edgmond neighbourhood plan to determine applications in this neighbourhood area.”

The overall process to produce a plan is in a series of regulation stages, which has taken around two years to complete.

As part of the process, the plans were sent to an independent examiner last year.

The examiner backed the proposal being put forward for a refurendum and said: "I can see that the parish council and its volunteers have put in a great deal of hard work.

"The plan is well presented and clear, and seeks to represent the local community’s aspirations, which it does well. I have concluded that the making of the plan will meet the basic conditions and legal requirements and i recommend that it should proceed to referendum."

Parish councils across the borough are working on developing their own neighbourhood plans.

They give parish councils the chance to choose where they want new homes and other buildings to be built, to have their say on what those new buildings should look like and what infrastructure should be provided, and grant planning permission for the new buildings they want to see go ahead.

Madeley and Waters Upton parishes have already established their own planning documents.

For more details on Edmond's Neighbourhood Plan visit edgmondparishcouncil.co.uk.