Out-Law News 2 min. read

Tattenhall and District Neighbourhood Plan to proceed to referendum


An Examiner has recommended to Chester West and Chester Council that the Tattenhall and District Neighbourhood Plan should proceed to referendum, subject to minor modifications.

The plan, which has been drawn up by Tattenhall and District Parish Council, sets out the Parish Council's visions and objectives for the area for a 20-year period, including "encouraging a thriving and prosperous community that delivers a high quality life for all its residents" and the "delivery of a housing growth strategy tailored to the needs and context of Tattenhall".

The plan's policies include support for housing developments of up to 30 homes only within or immediately adjacent to the built-up part of Tattenham Village. "The best villages have developed through incremental growth that harmonises with the existing character of their setting and buildings. It is essential that this continues to be the case in Tattenhall. The supply of new homes in the village and wider parish must be realised in accordance with the distinctive features, scale and grain of the local area," the plan says.

The Examiner said in his report (30-page / 657KB PDF) that he had received objections to this policy from landowners and housebuilders which said that the limit was not justified given the scale of housing need within the Council and that the 30-home figure was arbitrary.

However, the Examiner said that none of the representations had demonstrated that housing growth could not be achieved in accordance with the proposed policy.

"The Neighbourhood Plan provides a clear policy approach which, I find, achieves the difficult overall balancing act of supporting housing growth whilst preventing large scale new development that could, in the words of the Neighbourhood Plan, “erode the very qualities that make the village special”," he said.

The Examiner complimented the way the plan's visions and objectives were set out and said that this was a "significant strength" of the plan.

"The vision and objectives are aspirational yet straightforward and are distinctive to Tattenhall and District. Together with the objectives, the vision establishes a framework for the rest of the Neighbourhood Plan and as one reads through, the link between the vision and the detailed policies of the Neighbourhood Plan is clear," he said.

The Examiner recommended a small number of modifications to the plan, including inserting more maps, which he said would not fundamentally change the plan's content, but which were intended to ensure the plan met basic policy requirements and would be user-friendly.

The plan is the fourth of its kind in the country to gain approval by an Examiner following approvals earlier this year of plans for Thame in Oxfordshire, St James in Devon and Upper Eden in Cumbria.

Cheshire West and Chester Council said in a statement that it had decided at a meeting of the Council Executive that the plan should proceed to referendum, with the modifications recommended by the Examiner. The referendum will be held on 24 October. 

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