Colne Town Council would like to thank Pendle Borough Council for swiftly moving on its draft Neighbourhood Plan to Regulation 16. The draft Plan is now out for consultation until 5pm on Monday, 17th October 2022.
Cllr Mary Thomas, chair of Colne Town Council explained: “Comments are invited from residents, businesses and other interested parties. These comments should focus on whether the policies of the Neighbourhood Plan meet the Basic Conditions, rather than suggesting any new elements.”
The Basic Conditions for neighbourhood plans are that they must:
- have regard to national policy;
- contribute to the achievement of sustainable development;
- be in general conformity with the strategic policies in the development plan for the local area;
- be compatible with EU obligations.
Physical copies of the draft Plan can be found at these venues, during their normal opening hours:
- Colne Town Hall, Albert Road, Colne, BB8 0AQ
- Colne Library, Market Street, Colne, BB8 0AP
- Tubbs of Colne, Albert Road, Colne, BB8 0AG
- Number One Market Street, Nelson, BB9 7LJ
The draft Plan and all its supporting evidence base is also available on the Colne Town Council website: https://colnetowncouncil.org.uk/services/neighbourhood-plan/ and on the Pendle Borough Council website: https://www.pendle.gov.uk/downloads/download/3186/colne_neighbourhood_plan_consultation
“This is our fifth public consultation”, explained Cllr Sarah Cockburn-Price, chairman of the Colne Neighbourhood Plan Advisory Committee. “Firstly, back in 2016, we consulted on the Neighbourhood Plan area. In 2018, we shared our broad ideas and asked residents to help us put flesh on the bones. In late 2020, we were finally ready to share our Regulation 14 draft and we were praised for all our Zoom calls on all the Plan’s subtopics, as well as our business survey.
“We received masses of detailed feedback at this stage, so we set to work responding to it all, rewriting our policies and boosting our evidence base. We included a report on Significant Views, a Marketing Brochure, Master Planned two of our sites, updated our Viability Calculations and formulated a Design Code. We consulted on the Design Code – the first in Pendle – earlier this year. This consultation on whether the draft Plan complies with the Basic Conditions is the final one and is being run by Pendle Borough Council.”
Once the current Consultation is finished, the draft Plan will be independently examined. All comments submitted in response to the consultation will be forwarded to the Examiner. He or she will consider whether the draft plan, meets the Basic Conditions or whether modifications are necessary.
The examination finishes when the Examiner’s Report is received. The Report will normally recommend that the Plan proceeds to a public referendum, subject to certain changes. Once these are made, the referendum can take place. Anyone registered to vote in the Neighbourhood Plan area is entitled to vote.
If a simple majority of votes are in favour of the Plan, Pendle Council will use the Colne Neighbourhood Plan to help determine all planning applications in the town.
