Colne Neighbourhood Plan
What's happening?
Colne Town Council submitted the final draft of the Colne Neighbourhood Plan and accompanying documents to us on 8 August 2022.
A 6 week consultation has now taken place. Further information can be found on the Colne Neighbourhood Plan Consultation page.
What has happened so far
On 7 October 2016, Colne Town Council wrote to us, stating its intention to prepare a neighbourhood plan.
View the Colne Neighbourhood Area Proposal.
Between 14 October and 11 November 2016, there was a public consultation, giving people a chance to consider and comment on the proposed boundary for the Neighbourhood Plan area.
On 17 November 2016, Pendle Council resolved that the area adminstered by Colne Town Council should be designated as a Neighbourhood Area for the purposes of Neighbourhood Planning.
Colne Town Council carried out a number of informational consultation exercises to help them prepare a Neighbourhood Plan for their area.
On 26 October 2020, Colne Town Council issued its Pre-submission draft Neighbourhood Plan for public consultation. This provided residents, businesses and other interested parties with an opportunity to comment on the plan proposals.
A further public consultation was carried out in early 2022 to consider a proposed town-wide Design Code.
On 8 August 2022, Colne Town Council formally submitted its Neighbourhood Plan to Pendle Council for independent examination.
What happens next?
Following the consultation, Pendle Council and Colne Town Council will jointly appoint an Examiner to carry out an independent examination of the Neighbourhood Plan.
All comments submitted in response to the consultation will be forwarded to the Examiner. The Examiner will consider whether the plan, as drafted, meets the basic conditions or whether modifications are necessary. The Examiner may also conclude that the Neighbourhood Plan is incapable of meeting these basic conditions and recommend its withdrawal.
The format of the examination is at the discretion of the Examiner. Most are conducted by written representation. If there are issues that are particularly complex, or there are a significant number of objections, or a large number of site allocations are proposed, then public hearings might be organised.
The examination finishes when the Examiner's Report is received. The Report will normally recommend that the Plan proceeds to a public referendum, subject to certain changes.
If we confirm that the plan meets the basic conditions, a recommendation will be made that the plan should proceed to referendum. Anyone registered to vote in the area covered by the Neighbourhood Plan will be entitled to vote in the referendum.
If a simple majority of votes are in favour of the Plan (over 50% of those voting) we will start to use the Plan to help determine planning applications in the Colne Neighbourhood Area from the day the results are announced.
Once the Plan is adopted, it becomes part of the development plan for Pendle and its policies must be considered when deciding applications for planning permission.