Planning a victory in localism

The Government has finally got something to smile about with its localism programme. Upper Eden has become the first community to have a neighbourhood plan approved. Is it a victory in localism in action? Simple answer is yes.

Upper Eden, http://uecp.org.uk/, is the first community in the country that has passed all stages, including an independent examination and referendum, to put in place a neighbourhood plan to shape the future of the area and help improve the lives of local people.

The plan was approved by over 90% of the voters, with 1,310 votes in favour and 138 votes against. The naysayers are complaining that the turnout was low and hardly a vindication of the neighbourhood planning process. Yes the turnout for the referendum was 34% but this matches turn out local council election these days and smashes the turnout for Police Commissioner elections, which averaged at around 15%

The plan has been worked up by the Upper Eden Community Plan Group, which represents 17 Parish Councils across the Upper Eden area, and includes policies on encouraging limited new development to help local people meet their own housing needs, as well as policies on housing on farms, housing for older people and broadband connections.

Upper Eden is the just the tip of the iceberg with to date nearly 400 areas have applied to formally designate their neighbourhood planning areas, the first formal step in the process, while 20 draft plans have been published for consultation, before being independently examined and then put to referendum.

However not everything is perfect in these community planning schemes. A £20,000 neighbourhood plan for Dawlish has been rejected as "unsound" by a public examiner. For more information please visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-18392014,  
 
Then in The Guardian on Saturday 9^th March, we heard about how Haredi Jews face off against other residents of Stamford Hill in London in a battle for control of planning rights. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/mar/08/hackney-planning-row-orthdox-jewish 
But in the same article we heard how in “some areas, such as the Somali area of Spring Boroughs in Northampton, the process of drawing up a neighbourhood plan has brought immigrant and indigenous communities together for the first time”.

This all goes to show how when there are properly local democratically elected bodies, like parish and town councils, you are hearing the true voice of the community in neighbourhood planning as opposed to those who shout the loudest and factional in-fighting.