Withdrawal of funding for Neighbourhood Plans

Councils in Bedfordshire with planning responsibilities; Central Bedfordshire, Bedford Borough and Luton Borough, will no doubt have been shocked to hear the unexpected announcement in the government’s recent Spending Review, that funding for neighbourhood plans has been withdrawn with immediate effect.

This is a matter of great concern to CPRE at national and local level.

CPRE are very supportive of neighbourhood plans and see them as a valuable means of extending democratic participation in the planning process by local people. They provide the opportunity for local people to decide where development will be allowed in their communities.

Parishes in Bedfordshire have an excellent record of establishing neighbourhood plans, with 22 plans in Bedford Borough and 20 plans in Central Bedfordshire completed. Establishing neighbourhood plans though, does demand a great deal of time and effort by teams of parish councillors and residents to engage with local communities, compile an evidence base and meet the legal requirements of the plan making process.

It has generally been necessary to engage the support of qualified planning consultants at considerable expense, to navigate the process successfully. Prior to the Spending Review announcement, grant funding was available to meet these costs through the government’s Neighbourhood Plan Programme.

As most plans in Bedfordshire were made in the past five years or so, many parishes need to complete reviews within the next 12 months in order for their plans to continue to carry weight in deciding planning applications. Until the Spending Review announcement it had been expected that grant funding would continue to be available to support neighbourhood planning teams to complete these reviews.

The current situation in Bedford Borough in particular, where the Council’s planning policies are now classed as being out of date because of delays in progressing Local Plan 2040, makes it crucial that parishes review their neighbourhood plans, even when this now means completing reviews at their own expense.

The government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) allows for protections for neighbourhood plans so that they can still be given weight in deciding planning applications even in situations where local planning policies are classed as being out of date.
We understand that a further review of the NPPF is in prospect soon. It would be extremely damaging if steps were taken to amend the NPPF in ways that will serve to weaken the protections to neighbourhood plans that are currently in place.

CPRE Bedfordshire have written to all MPs in Bedfordshire and to the local planning authorities to urge them to do everything they can to make sure that such amendments are not made.