Communities across the district can receive grants of up to £4,000 to help prepare or update Neighbourhood Plans as part of a Newark and Sherwood District Council scheme.
The proposed £50,000 scheme would help town and parish councils access specialist support to develop planning policies for their local areas. It would initially support up to ten plans and be subject to review after 6 months.
Neighbourhood Plans give communities the opportunity to shape future development through locally specific planning policies. The proposed funding follows the withdrawal of Government-funded grants and specialist support that was previously available.
The District Council’s scheme would provide a contribution towards preparing a new plan or reviewing an existing one. Grants would not be expected to cover the full cost of developing a plan, but could help pay for specialist evidence, technical work and document production that communities could not reasonably undertake themselves.
Eligible work could include housing needs assessments, design codes, site assessments and environmental assessments.
Councillor Claire Penny, Portfolio Holder for Sustainable Economic Development at Newark and Sherwood District Council, said:
We want to make sure that local communities are not left behind and offer parish and town councils an opportunity to develop polices to grow and improve their local area.
I encourage local councils to get in touch and apply for the scheme once they know there is local support for developing a plan and a Neighbourhood Area has been designated. They will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis.
Under the proposals, Locality, a national membership network across England that supports local community organisations, will assist the Council in administering the scheme. Locality would provide independent support to help each participating community identify its priorities, existing capacity and the areas where specialist help would be most valuable. It would assess proposed spending and monitor completion of the funded work.
Once expenditure had been assessed as eligible, the District Council would release the grant to the qualifying body, which would commission and pay for the specialist support directly.
Parish and Town Councils interested in preparing or reviewing a Neighbourhood Plan, and accessing the funding available to support this work, are encouraged to contact the Council's Planning Policy and Infrastructure Team as a first step to discuss their aspirations. Applicants can contact planningpolicy@newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk or call 01636 650 000.
