Ringwood residents to vote on neighbourhood plan

Ringwood residents to vote on neighbourhood plan

A referendum relating to the adoption of the Ringwood Neighbourhood Development Plan will be 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.

The question which will be asked in the Referendum is: ‘Do you want New Forest District Council and New Forest National Park Authority to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Ringwood to help it decide planning applications in the Neighbourhood Area?’

Residents will be asked to vote either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to this question.  

In 2018, Ringwood Town Council decided to produce a Neighbourhood Plan and a number of public consultations were undertaken from 2021 to 2023 on the draft Neighbourhood Plan.

Work on the Ringwood Neighbourhood Development 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. At its meeting New Forest District Council also agreed to make the necessary arrangements for the Ringwood Neighbourhood Development Plan to proceed to referendum.

If more than half of those voting in the referendum vote ‘yes’ to the question above, 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, its supporting documents, and further details on eligibility to vote can be viewed on New Forest District Council’s website at https://www.newforest.gov.uk/ringwoodplan