Neighbourhood plan committee

Background

Carrington Parish Council has determined that it intends to produce a Neighbourhood Plan and has established a Neighbourhood Plan committee to oversee the process.

1. Purpose and Mission Statement

The purpose of the Neighbourhood Plan committee (“the NPC”) is to design and facilitate a process that will result in the preparation of a draft Neighbourhood Plan for the Parish of Carrington, in order to achieve the respective vision for this Parish.

The process will be:

Inclusive – offering everyone who lives or works in Carrington opportunities to participate fully in the plan.

Comprehensive - identifying all the important aspects of life in Carrington for which we need to plan for the future.

Positive – bringing forward proposals which will improve the quality of life in Carrington.

Supported – where there is a need for professional support to complete the process.

2. Tasks

The NPC, along with its technical advisers, will undertake the following tasks:

1. Prepare an outline process for producing the Neighbourhood Plan.

2. Determine the overall scope and objectives of the plan

3. Promote the process of preparing the Neighbourhood Plan to encourage participation and the submission of views and ideas.

4. Organise meetings to gather views and consult on ideas.

5. Assess existing evidence about the needs and aspirations of the Parish.

6. Liaise with relevant businesses and organisations to secure their input in the process.

7. Ensure that the views of the full range and diversity of interest Groups are sought through the process, as far as this is reasonably possible.

8. Analyse the views, ideas and proposals received during the planning process and use them to prepare a draft Plan.

9. Keep the Council fully informed of progress and, where appropriate, present NPC Meeting Minutes for acceptance and subsequent adoption.

3. Membership of the Neighbourhood Planning Team and Quorum

• Membership of the NPC shall comprise no less than four (4) members. Additional members can be co-opted if required.

• The Group shall review its membership from time to time.

• The Group will contain a Parish Council representative.

• Where appropriate, officers from Trafford Council and other key stakeholders will be invited to attend Meetings in an advisory capacity.

• The NPC shall be quorate when three (3) members are present, of whom at least two must be an elected Parish Council representative.

• The technical advisers will not have voting rights.

• Non-councillors will not have voting rights.

• All members to follow the Code of Conduct

5. Chair of the Neighbourhood Planning Team

• The Group shall elect a Chair and Deputy Chair from their number on the first meeting.

• If the Chair is not present, the Deputy Chair shall take the Meeting.

• If neither is present, members shall elect a Chair for the meeting from amongst their number.

• Elections shall take place during the Annual meeting of the Parish.

6. Officers and Clerking Arrangements for the Neighbourhood Planning Team

• • • Notice and associated papers shall normally be despatched three clear days before the date of the meeting. E-mail will be used where possible.

    • The NPC shall keep Minutes or Notes of proceedings which will be recorded and open to public scrutiny.

    • A Signing-In Register will be available at each Meeting for the purposes of recording those present and apologies for absence within the Minutes or Notes.

7. Frequency, Timing and Procedure of Meetings for the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group

• • The NPC shall meet not less than once every quarter.

  • Any changes to NPC Terms of Reference will require Parish Council approval.

8. Secretarial Arrangements for the Working Groups

• • • Each meeting shall nominate a Secretary/note taker. The sole duty of the Secretary is to provide brief Meeting Notes of each Meeting. A different member can be nominated as Secretary/note taker for each meeting.

    • Meeting Notes must be provided Parish Council, in electronic form, and will be a matter of public record.

9. Working groups

The Sub-Committee may establish such working groups as it considers necessary to carry out the functions specified by the Sub-Committee. The purpose of each working group is to assist the Neighbourhood Plan Committee (NPC) to prepare the Neighbourhood Plan for the community.

Each working group should:

• • • Each working group will tackle a specific issue, or set of issues, or the needs and opportunities facing a specific group of people within the community.

    • Each working group should have a lead person.

    • Clearly set out its purpose e.g. “to help young people (under 18 years) in the community identify their needs, ideas and concerns and to feed this into the consultation for the NDP.”

    • Outline how it will gather information and carry out consultations.

    • Set out the timescale and estimated costs of gathering information and carrying out consultations.

    • Appoint at least one, but preferably two members, to attend the regular NPC meetings (those persons may already be members of the NPC).

The working groups will be:

• • • Transport / Highways

    • Education

    • Housing

    • Economy / Business / Retail

    • Green Belt Green Spaces / Environmental Considerations

    • Heritage

    • Utilities & Infrastructure

Each working group will be responsible for organising its own meetings and must provide a progress report to the NPSG meetings.

Financial expenditure in excess of £50 (or other amount as agreed by the Parish Council) must be approved by the NPC. Receipted expenses for reimbursement should be passed to the Parish Clerk on a monthly basis with reasons for the expenditure clearly given.

10.Delegated Authority

Carrington Parish Council is the qualifying body for the purposes of preparing the plan. The NPC has full delegated authority to manage the process of preparing the plan as set out in the objectives and within agreed budgets; up to and including the publication of the consultation draft plan.

Regular reports will be made to the Parish Council to ensure effective progress. Carrington Parish Council will approve the final draft Neighbourhood Plan prior to submission to the local planning authority.