September 2019 survey to business owners in the parish

In September of 2019, a survey was sent to all properties included in the Cornwall Council Valuation Office’s lsit of business premises in the Perranzabuloe parish. This was around 600 addresses.

Posters were also put up around the parish (parish notice boards, shops and cafe’s).

A PDF copy of the survey can be downloaded here.

100 responses came back.

A summary of the response data can be downloaded here.

 

Does the Crantock decision in June 21018 mean that NDPs are useless?

These are personal notes, written in November 2018, by Roger Keyes, head of the Perranzabuloe NDP Housing Group on the question.

I don’t accept the simplistic conclusion that simply because Cornwall Council approved the housing application in Crantock in June 2018, then this means that NDPs are valueless.  From my perspective, the case supports the view that NDPs can have some value, even while they don’t fulfil the high expectations of what they could achieve, expectations promote by some proponents of NDPs.

The Crantock application was decided by the Central Planning Committee meeting held in St Austell on June 11th, a meeting that I attended.  For a relatively small development of 22 houses, the application was for an extension of a larger site already with permission, through which access would be gained.  This additional site extends in toward the village rather than out into open countryside and lies outside of the ‘Settlement Boundary’ as defined in the NDP.  As I heard it, a key justification given by planning officers for recommending approval of the application was their view that one of three existing planning permissions for new housing in Crantock, known I believe as Parsons Green, had stalled and its implementation was now unlikely or at least uncertain.  This would, they argued, create a short-fall in the supply of houses needed to cater for those on the HomeChoice Register for Crantock.  So they recommended approval.  After heated debate, the committee voted to approve it by 8 votes to 7.

(By the way, it wouldn’t surprise me if Crantock Parish think that they may have a case for judicial review since, at that time, the planning application for Parsons Green was still valid (it wouldn’t go on to expire until October 2018) and the fact that they believed it to be stalled was not ‘material.’  If this were to be the grounds for going to judicial review, it would underline the significance of this issue.)

So, what influence did the NDP have?

It was clear from the discussion that significant weight was being given to the contents of the NDP.  In the background was the fact that the Committee had deferred the application from February until after the referendum in May 2018.  Materially, the ‘Rural exception site’ outside of the ‘Settlement Boundary’ provisions of the NDP resulted in the developers having to increase the Affordable Housing provision from 30% of the houses on the site originally proposed, to 50% in the version approved eventually.

Are there any lessons for Perranzabuloe? 

In this case, Crantock had already fulfilled the allocation of houses in the Cornwall Local Plan (just as Perranzabuloe has), yet still the planning policy context dictated that if there is outstanding local need for Affordable Housing (AH), then applications for market-led developments will be given approval so that additional AH will be forthcoming.  In Crantock, the issue was has or hasn’t the ‘local need’ been accommodated.  In Perranzabuloe, the numbers on the HomeChoice Register are so much greater than the numbers of AH houses coming forward that such applications are likely to be approved, unless other considerations dictate otherwise.  This is the stance outlined the introduction to our Perranzabuloe NDP Housing group.

November 16th 2018

Neighbourhood Development Plan Meeting 12th July 2016

Present: Guy Thomas, Cllr. K. Yeo Chair: Cllr. Callan CC; Councillors and Members of the public – total of 21 people.

 

General discussion:

A qualifying body must “own” the plan and the Parish Council is the qualifying  body but the Steering Group is not a committee of the Parish Council. No more than 2 parish councillors should be on the group (approx. 20%) optimum size of which would be 9 to 13 people. This would be the core group with required skills – other people could join for specific tasks and leave again.

The Parish Council felt that the whole parish should be designated as the “neighbourhood” – if

The main task would be evidence gathering – vital to the success of the plan.

It must identify local priorities

Identify skills available

Uphold the principle of sustainable development- Social, Economic and Environmental for the community.

Production of a Neighbourhood Development Plan would ensure 25% of CIL is retained in the parish (otherwise 15%)

There was some scepticism about the efficacy of an NDP in planning terms but following discussion and hearing that the findings of the NDP would be a material consideration for planning applications there was an enthusiastic response.

 

Timetable

Over the next 3 months or more

(Toolkit available)

Form group and decide terms of reference – help is available from Cornwall Council for latter.

 

Identify skills available and allocate tasks, including chair of group

Deliver a public engagement session – Guy Thomas can attend to assist.

Undertake community questionnaire (optional)

 

Following 3 – 6 months       

Agree  Themes

Project Plan

Localities

Obtain Designated Status

 

6 to 12 months

Community Engagement

 

To arrange for a further public meeting in the next few months following confirmation of Parish Council representation –  to confirm that there are sufficient numbers to form a Steering Group.

 

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