Government Announces £22.5m to Boost Neighbourhood Planning

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has announced a new £22.5 million programme to support communities looking to set up neighbourhood plans.

The new programme, which runs until 2018, aims to support local communities that are drawing up a neighbourhood plan for their area. Neighbourhood planning was introduced in England by the Localism Act 2011 to give people a chance to decide how their local area should be developed and what should be built in the future. Groups will be able to determine where they want new homes, shops and offices to be built and have a say on what new buildings should look like.

The new Neighbourhood Planning programme offers both funding in the form of a grant as well as technical advice and support. It follows on from the Government's £9.5 million Supporting Communities in Neighbourhood Planning programme (2013-2015).

Community groups writing a neighbourhood plan or neighbourhood development can apply for a Neighbourhood Planning Grant of between £1,000 and £8,000 to pay for events to engage the local community, develop a website, training sessions, venue hire, publicity materials, printing and other costs associated with consultation.

Groups facing more complex issues can apply for specific packages of technical support where needed, and may also be eligible for a further £6,000 in grant funding. Groups with complex issues include neighbourhood forums where there is no town or parish council; clusters of parishes; high growth areas; deprived areas; populations with more than 25,000 residents; groups preparing a neighbourhood development order; and business led neighbour plans.

The support programme runs to 2018 and from April it will also provide community groups with technical assistance and expert advice to support new neighbourhood plans and neighbourhood development orders, throughout the process.

There are no deadlines as this is a rolling programme that is expected to run throughout the year.

Locality, a national network of community-led organisations, is delivering the Government’s neighbourhood planning support programme and will be assessing applications.

Full details including guidance notes and an Expression of Interest form can be found on the My Community website

Courtesy of j4Bcommunity.co.uk