Breadsall Neighbourhood Plan Referendum Information
Neighbourhood Plan Referendum
The referendum on the adoption of the Neighbourhood Plan for the Parish of Breadsall will take place shortly. This is the final stage in the process of adoption and, if the plan is approved by a majority of voters, it will be incorporated within the policies which guide planning decisions in the Parish. The referendum will be conducted by Erewash Borough Council and will take place on May 4th at the same time as the local elections. All registered voters within the Parish are entitled to vote in the referendum.
A summary of the background to the Neighbourhood Plan is given in the copy below of the foreword to the plan. Full details of the plan and the referendum are given on the Borough Council’s website at the link below:
Breadsall Referendum (erewash.gov.uk)
Copy of Foreword:
As Chair of Breadsall Parish Council I am pleased to finally be able to write the foreword to this Neighbourhood Plan. The Parish Council has for many years been frustrated by the lack of planning policies specifically tailored to the needs of Breadsall parish. The creation of a Neighbourhood Plan will hopefully help to remedy that situation by establishing policies that have been suggested and approved by the residents of the parish.
When adopted these policies will have statutory effect in planning decisions related to the parish. Breadsall is one of the smaller areas covered by a Neighbourhood Plan and has a relatively limited range of land uses. Furthermore, the key issues which are of concern to local residents have become very clear from the public consultation exercises. These factors all facilitated rapid progress in creating the consultation draft within 18 months of the original decision in March 2016 to proceed with a Neighbourhood Plan. The content was later revised where appropriate to reflect local feedback and official responses from statutory consultees. Following the report of the external examiner of the Plan it became apparent that much of the Plan as proposed was unacceptable to the Examiner and hence to Erewash Borough Council. The Parish Council has been in correspondence with Erewash for some time over these issues, and the whole process was also affected by the pandemic and a shortage of resources at the Borough Council. Hence it is only in 2022 that the Plan is moving forward. The Parish Council wishes to put it on record that this final version of the Plan does not contain several of the elements it would have wished to see in place. However, as the alternatives were to either discard the Plan entirely or to resubmit a new Plan, the Council has resolved that neither of these is acceptable and to move the Plan onwards as it is.
The Parish Council now wishes to submit this final draft to be used in the referendum which is the last stage in the adoption of the Plan. The whole process has been handled by an advisory group of volunteers from the local community, together with a professional advisor. I am grateful to the residents who have participated in the public consultation exercises, and I was particularly impressed by the very high turnout at the public meetings in March 2017 and February 2018. The consultation responses show an overwhelming desire to preserve the rural character of the parish and to protect the numerous features and facilities that make it such a pleasant place to live. I believe that the Neighbourhood Plan will help to achieve this. Some areas of public concern, especially in relation to highway management and the green belt, we are told, cannot legally form policies in a Neighbourhood Plan, but the public feedback on such topics has been very useful and will assist the Parish Council in lobbying for change. On behalf of the residents, I would like to thank the members of the advisory group for the time, energy and expertise that they have put into the production of our Neighbourhood Plan. Thanks also to our previous parish clerk for her able assistance in seeing the plan through its various stages. The Neighbourhood Plan is not static and will be revised as necessary in the future. I do urge all residents to stay involved.
Cllr Christine Goodwin, Chair of Breadsall Parish Council