Essential Requirements for Your Neighbourhood Plan or Order

So, you're looking to create a Neighbourhood Development Plan or Order? Before your plan can become officially recognised and take effect, it must clear a few crucial hurdles. Not only does it need to satisfy specific legal requirements, but it also has to gain significant support from local residents in a neighbourhood referendum.

These essential checks ensure that your proposals are fully compliant with the law and align with broader planning objectives. Here are the key conditions your plan or order must meet:

• You must ensure your plan properly considers national planning policy.

• Your proposals must generally fit with the key overarching policies outlined in your local area's development plan. This could include, for example, a 'core strategy', which sets out the long-term vision for local development.

• It needs to be compatible with human rights requirements and any commitments the UK holds towards the European Union.

Before your plan can even proceed to a public vote, an independent and qualified expert will conduct a thorough review. This reviewer's job is to confirm that your proposed plan or order appropriately satisfies all these conditions. This vital step guarantees that only well-conceived and practical proposals are presented to your community for their decision.

For your plan or order to have legal authority and be put into action, it requires approval from the majority of voters in your neighbourhood during the referendum. If residents give their backing to your proposals, the local planning authority is then legally obliged to bring them into force.