Neighbourhood planning is delivering for local people

NALC and the APPG (All Party Parliamentary Group) on Local Democracy partnered with Civic Voice and the APPG for Civic Societies to deliver a debate on neighbourhood planning.

The debate looked at how neighbourhood planning can work for communities and what issues communities face when implementing a neighbourhood Plan.

Craig Mackinlay MP, chair of APPG for Civic Societies chaired the event and in his welcome to attendees, shared some of his thoughts on where he thinks development should be prioritised. Mr Mackinlay eluded that development should focus on brown field sites first but the quality was paramount to develop the sort of homes people will want to live in.

Scott Mann MP, co chair of APPG on Local Democracy delivered his talk to attendees, which highlighted the local council perspective on neighbourhood planning. Mr Mann said local councils are urging the government to stand firm against certain developer forces that seem to want to ride roughshod against the wishes of communities.

Max Farrell, Partner at Farrells discussed the 10 principles that Farrells have identified for growing communities. He highlighted that one of the main principles they see, as a vital part of doing this is by developers proactively engaging with communities from the outset. Mr Farrell finished his talk by expressing that neighbourhood planning will empower people and bring about a culture of change so that people want a say over development.

NALC’s president, Lord Matthew Taylor, was the final speaker at the debate and he expressed the importance of having neighbourhood planning to give communities a say in what is being developed in their area. He continued to say that a simplification of the neighbourhood planning process is needed to improve meaningful community engagement.