Ringwood residents vote ‘yes’ to Neighbourhood Plan
PUBLISHED ON: 5 JULY 2024[Joint press release with New Forest District Council]
Update: The Ringwood Neighbourhood Plan was ‘made’ (adopted) by New Forest District Council at its meeting on 8 July 2024. The Neighbourhood Plan and its policies will now be given full weight by NFDC when assessing planning applications within the parish of Ringwood.
A referendum relating to the adoption of the Ringwood Neighbourhood Development Plan was held on Thursday 4 July 2024.
A Neighbourhood Development Plan contains policies for the use of land in a designated neighbourhood area. The designated Neighbourhood Plan Area is the whole of Ringwood Parish.
A majority (83.2%) of those voting in the referendum voted in favour of the plan (on a turnout of 58.93%).
In 2018, Ringwood Town Council decided to produce a Neighbourhood Development Plan and a number of public consultations were undertaken from 2021 to 2023 on the draft Neighbourhood Plan.
Work on the Ringwood Plan has been overseen locally by a steering group of town councillors and community representatives. The initial Pre-Submission Neighbourhood Plan was published in February 2023 for public consultation.
An independent examiner was appointed, and his report was received in February 2024. The report concluded that the Ringwood Plan met the basic conditions and other legal requirements, subject to modifications.
New Forest District Council (NFDC) and the New Forest National Park Authority (NPA) considered the recommendations and modifications contained in the Examiner’s Report at their respective meetings of 13 May 2024 (NFDC) and 21 May 2024 (NPA). The planning authorities agreed that the legal requirements and basic conditions had been met.
If more than half of those voting in a referendum vote ‘yes’, then the Neighbourhood Plan must be ‘made’ (adopted) by New Forest District Council and New Forest National Park Authority, and the Neighbourhood Plan will be part of both planning authorities’ Development Plans. This means that the Plan will be used in the determination of planning applications for Ringwood Parish. Where a Neighbourhood Plan is given consent by local people, they also benefit from 15% to 25% of the Community Infrastructure Levy revenues arising from the development that takes place in their area.
The plan and its supporting documents can be viewed on NFDC’s website at https://www.newforest.gov.uk/ringwoodplan.
