WILLOUGHBY

September to December 2019

Andrew Ashcroft, the independent examiner, completed his report on the Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) on 10 September 2019. He was very positive about the plan and recommended a number of modifications to ensure that it met all the necessary legal requirements (the Basic Conditions). He also recommended that the NDP should go to a referendum of local people. Examiner’s Report (10 September 2019).

Willoughby Parish Council and Rugby Borough Council (RBC) agreed the modifications
recommended by the examiner and an updated plan was produced - the Referendum
Neighbourhood Development Plan (September 2019) .

On 7 October 2019, the RBC Cabinet gave their approval for the Neighbourhood Plan to go
forward to a referendum.

The referendum was held on 2 December 2019. The referendum question was ‘Do you want Rugby Borough Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Willoughby to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?’

The result of the referendum was as follows:

Number of people who voted Yes: 169 (97.7%)
Number of people who voted No: 4 ( 2.3%)
 

Electorate: 337 Ballot Papers Issued: 173 Turnout: 51.3%
 

On 17 December 2019, Rugby Borough Council formally ‘made’ (adopted) the Willoughby
Neighbourhood Plan as a part of the Rugby Local Development Plan. This means that the neighbourhood plan is a material consideration when deciding applications for
planning permission within Willoughby Parish.

The final version of the NDP, the Willoughby Neighbourhood Development Plan (December 2019), was published on the NDP website on 18 December 2019. It will be reviewed on or before 17 December 2021.

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May to August 2019

The revised NDP, the Submission Neighbourhood Development Plan, was submitted to Rugby Borough Council (RBC) on 16 May 2019 after amendments were made as a result of the Regulation 14 consultation and the adoption of the Rugby Local Plan on 4 June 2019. The NDP went to Cabinet on 24 June 2019 where approval was given for the final consultation.

The consultation (Regulation 16) was carried out by RBC and took place for 6 weeks from 25 June to 6 August 2019. The Submission NDP together with the Consultation Statement, the Basic Conditions Statement and other accompanying documents were published on the NDP website and the RBC website. Everyone, who asked to be kept informed, received information about the consultation by email or letter and a public notice was posted in the Rugby Observer.

During the consultation, RBC appointed Andrew Ashcroft to examine the Neighbourhood Plan. After the consultation ended on 6 August 2019, representations received were sent to Mr Ashcroft who, in turn, sent a ‘route map’ outlining the arrangements for the examination. He made an unaccompanied  visit to the parish during the week beginning 12 August and sent a Clarification Notice to RBC on 16 August. The Parish Council Responses to Mr Ashcroft’s questions were sent to him on 28 August.

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January to April 2019

The formal consultation on the Willoughby Draft Neighbourhood Development Plan
(Regulation 14) took place for seven weeks from 21 January to 10 March 2019. A Letter To
Consultees describing the consultation process and a Representation Form showing the
kind of information required were hand delivered, posted or emailed to residents,
businesses, local organisations, non-resident landowners and statutory and voluntary
consultation bodies. A reminder about the deadline for representations was delivered or
sent to consultees two weeks before the end of the consultation.

In total, around 320 individuals and organisations were invited to send representations and
comments. There were 78 respondents - 53 residents, our Councillor on Rugby Borough
Council, 6 local organisations and 18 statutory consultation bodies including Barby & Onley,
Braunston and Grandborough Parish Councils. Almost all supported the NDP and a number
of comments were made as to how we could improve the plan further.

On 5 April 2019, three Responses Tables were published. These included all the
representations received and proposed amendments to produce the Submission
Neighbourhood Development Plan for the final consultation (Regulation 16).

Click on the following links to see the tables
Table 1 Consultation Bodies and Other Local Organisations
Table 2 Parish Councils and Neighbouring Local Planning Authorities
Table 3 Residents

The Draft NDP, its accompanying documents and the responses tables were all made
available online on the NDP website and on paper, if requested.
 

October/November 2018
The informal consultation on the First Draft Neighbourhood Plan took place from 8 October
to 4 November 2018. A Summary and a Questionnaire based on the plan were distributed
to all residents and stakeholders in the Neighbourhood Plan Area. The summary included
information about how to access the full plan online or on paper. Everyone was invited to
comment and their responses informed the Regulation 14 version of the Draft Willoughby
NDP.

A second Neighbourhood Plan Day held on 17 October from 4.00 - 8.00pm in the village
hall enabled people to discuss the draft policies and supporting information. In total, 207
questionnaires were distributed and 108 returned. 35 people attended the second
Neighbourhood Plan Day.

On 14 November, two reports were published - the First Draft Plan - Full Report and the
First Draft Plan - Summary. The full report showed the analysis of responses to the Yes/No
questions and included all the comments received during the consultation. The summary
was delivered to all residents and stakeholders and showed the analysis of responses to the
Yes/No questions and gave information about where to read the more detailed document
either online or on paper.

On 30 November, another detailed report was published. The First Draft Plan - Responses
and Revisions set out the responses to the First Draft Plan and how the representations
would influence changes to the final version of the Draft Willoughby NDP (Regulation 14).
This report was also made available online at the NDP website or on paper, if requested.

 

August/September 2018
Over the summer, the Steering Group prepared the First Draft Plan. This Plan provided
more detail in terms of background and supporting evidence and set out wording for ten
draft planning policies.

In preparing the First Draft Plan, the Steering Group carefully considered the responses
from the public consultation on Issues and Options and undertook a significant amount of
further research. This detailed research was incorporated where possible into the
supporting text and appendices of the First Draft NDP. A detailed flood risk report was also
prepared and can be viewed and downloaded from the NDP website.

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July 2018

On 23 July 2018, the Steering Group produced three reports so that everyone was kept informed about what was happening. Two reports provided information about the results of the questionnaire. These were the Issues & Options - Full Report and the Issues & Options - Summary Report . In addition, an Issues & Options - Responses and Revisions document was produced. This included the Steering Group’s responses to what they had been told and revisions they might make to the consultation document to produce the First Draft Neighbourhood Plan.

All three documents are available online and on paper. The Summary Document was
delivered to every household in the parish and to other stakeholders.

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May - June 2018

The initial informal consultation for the Neighbourhood Plan took place from 7 May

to 3 June 2018. An Issues and Options document was prepared for the consultation
and a Summary and Questionnaire based on this was distributed to all residents
and stakeholders in the Neighbourhood Plan Area.

A Neighbourhood Plan Day held on 16 May 2018 from 10.00 am to 9.00 pm in the
Village Hall enabled local people to share ideas and ask questions. In total, 202
questionnaires were distributed and 112 were returned. 60 people attended the
Neighbourhood Plan Day. A progress report was produced on 14 June 2018 and
distributed to all local residents and other stakeholders.

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November 2017
A Steering Group of interested local residents and a parish councillor was set up to oversee
the preparation of the Plan on behalf of the Parish Council.

October 2017
The Parish Council applied to Rugby Borough Council for designation of the Parish as a
‘Neighbourhood Area’ and this was approved on 5 October 2017. The designated Neighbourhood Area is the same area as the Parish.

August 2017
Willoughby Parish Council decided to prepare a Neighbourhood Development Plan
(NDP) for Willoughby Parish. This was after a survey of residents in which the majority
of respondents indicated they wanted a NDP.

September 2012 - August 2016
Willoughby Parish Council has carried out two major surveys with local residents in the past six years. The first survey took place in September 2012 and informed the Parish Plan
which was compiled in 2013 and updated in July 2015.

The second survey took place in August 2014 and was preceded by a housing survey
carried out by Midlands Rural Housing in June 2014. This information underpinned the
Village Design Statement which was approved and adopted by Rugby Borough Council in
August 2016 and which is used by the Parish Council to help determine whether they
should accept or object to planning applications submitted for the Parish.