Pendle News Room

A public consultation will run from Friday 23 February to Friday 6 April to consider the final version of its Neighbourhood Plan, giving residents, businesses and other interested parties one last chance to have their say.

In July 2016 Trawden Forest Parish Council asked Pendle Council to formally designate the parish as a neighbourhood area, so they could prepare a Neighbourhood Plan.

Over the last 18 months a Steering Group has engaged with the local community and drafted new planning policies for their area to reflect the feedback they’ve received.

Neil Watson, Pendle Council’s Planning, Building Control and Licensing Manager, explained: “The Parish Council has now submitted the final version of its Neighbourhood Plan.

“The draft Plan has previously been consulted on in the local community and we have been grateful for the opportunity the Parish has given us to help them produce it.

“Before we pass this on to an independent examiner, local residents, businesses and other interested parties have a final opportunity to comment on its proposals.”

The public consultation runs for six weeks and all comments must be received by Pendle Council by 5pm on Friday 6th April 2018.

Councillor Julie Henderson, who leads on Planning for Pendle, added: “The Trawden Forest Neighbourhood Plan is the first in Pendle to reach this stage.

“It’s an exciting and ambitious document, which sets out a realistic vision for the future of the area.”

Once the Plan is made* it will be taken into consideration when decisions are taken on planning applications.

The nine policies within the Neighbourhood Plan address a wide range of issues. They also allocate five sites for new housing, and these have the potential to provide 50 new homes up to 2030.

Whilst welcoming new development, in the right locations, above all the Plan has sought to preserve the local character of the villages and hamlets in the parish and protect the open countryside from inappropriate development.

Three Local Green Spaces, which are considered to have great significance for the local community, have been identified. Together with 30 open space sites these will be protected from development.

Copies of the Plan and its supporting documents are available from:

• Pendle Council’s website – www.pendle.gov.uk/neighbourhoodplans
• Number One Market Street in Nelson
• Trawden Parish Council office
• Colne Library.

Barry Hodgson, Chair of Trawden Forest Parish Council, said: “This consultation provides residents in Trawden, Cotton Tree, Winewall and Wycoller with a final opportunity to read the Plan and to tell us if they are happy with what it says.”

Following the public consultation the Neighbourhood Plan, and all the comments received in response to this consultation, will be sent to the independent examiner appointed to conduct the formal Examination of the Trawden Forest Neighbourhood Plan.

The Examiner will normally recommend that the Plan proceeds to a public referendum, subject to certain amendments.

Anyone registered to vote in the area covered by the Neighbourhood Plan will then be entitled to vote in a public referendum.

If a simple majority of votes are in favour of the Neighbourhood Plan (i.e. over 50% of those voting) it will become a consideration in the determination of planning applications from that day onwards.

*Made is the term used when the local planning authority (Pendle Council) formally adopts a Neighbourhood Plan.