Cabinet agrees to Neighbourhood Plan boundary for Great Houghton

Cabinet members of Northampton Borough Council agreed earlier this month (June 10) to designate the area that had been proposed by Great Houghton Parish Council.

The area includes the village of Great Houghton and its Conservation Area, some parts of the Brackmills industrial estate and Riverside to the west, and the flood control areas to the north.

Deputy cabinet member for planning, Councillor James Hill, said: “In March this year we were contacted by the parish council who implied they wanted to designate a Neighbourhood Plan area. We encourage these plans and we’ve got some really good plans already in Northampton and this would be another addition to that.”

Now that the area has been designated, it will allow the parish council to begin preparing the Neighbourhood Plan. Once that is done, it will be examined independently before being put to a referendum of residents.

If voted through by the village, the Neighbourhood Plan would be used in the determination of planning applications, and could ‘carry a significant weight’ as part of the planning process.

The cabinet report states that the cost of producing a Neighbourhood Plan can vary between £11,000 and £100,000 depending on the complexity of the process – and this would have to be footed by the parish council, though it can apply for a number of grants towards the process.

The parish council’s website states: “Such a plan would set out the vision, aims, planning policies and proposals for improving the area or providing new facilities and allocation of key sites for specific kinds of development that would best address economic, and environmental issues including, housing, design, heritage and transport.”