Neighbourhood planning

What is neighbourhood planning?

Neighbourhood planning was introduced by the Localism Act 2011. It empowers communities to shape the development and growth of a local area through the production of a Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP), a Neighbourhood Development Order (NDO), a Community Right to Build Order (CRTBO), and, once section 97 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (LURA 2023) is in force, a neighbourhood priorities statement. See Practice Note: Introduction to neighbourhood planning.

The Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012, SI 2012/637 came into force on 6 April 2012. Provisions relating to NDPs, NDOs and CRTBOs came into force on 5 April 2013.

Defining 'neighbourhood area'

There is no comprehensive statutory definition of 'neighbourhood area'; local communities are free to define their own neighbourhood areas for the purposes of preparing a plan, subject to approval by their local planning authority (LPA). Section 61G of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990) requires that an LPA can only designate a 'neighbourhood area' where:

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a relevant body (ie a parish council or neighbourhood forum) has applied to the LPA for an area

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