Northam’s vision must go back out for consultation due to new planning laws

Councils have been forced to put a blueprint for the future of Northam, Appledore and Westward Ho! back out to public consultation due to changes in national legislation.

From Thursday, April 20 to May 1, Torridge District Council – on behalf of Northam Town Council – is asking for views on how the plan fits in with changes to national planning policy, which came into force on March 26.

The main plan was put out to public consultation in August last year and it set out the vision for the three communities and would provide policies to guide development in the area until 2031.

READ NEXT: Have your say on how three Torridge communities develop over the next six years

Once adopted, it will become part of the area’s Development Plan and will form part of planning policy that must be considered by planning officers and the district council when deciding on new planning applications.

Now, because of government amendments to various national planning acts, consultation must be run again, but only on a handful of specific changes.

These include that the plan must be designed to ensure any development and use of land in the area would contribute to the mitigating or adapting to climate change.

It must also take account any local ‘nature recovery strategy’ under section 104 of the Environment Act 2021. These relate to restoring, creating or connecting habitats and might typically apply to farmers or land managers.

READ NEXT: The verdict is in – does North Devon want the Bideford railway to reopen?

The Government now also requires neighbourhood plans to support housing and another condition is that any new plan should not result in less housing for the area compared with if there was no plan.

A final condition relates to the requirement for having environmental assessments in place to before development is carried out.

The latest consultation seeks to ensure the Northam Neighbourhood Plan is compliant with these changes.

You can view the specific details of the legislation at https://www.torridge.gov.uk/northamnp

Torridge residents can submit any further comments in writing online at https://consult.torridge.gov.uk/kse or by email to localplan@torridge.gov.uk

Written representations can also be made by post or in person to Planning Policy, Torridge District Council, Riverbank House, Bideford, EX39 2QG.