A neighbourhood plan empowers the local community to determine policies that future developments and planning applications would need to meet in order to be approved.
A central government initiative introduced in 2011, Neighbourhood Planning has been encouraged in order to bring greater local democracy to the planning process. The Localism Act 2011 ensures that our plan’s policies, if successfully approved at a referendum, will be applied as part of the legal framework used in deciding whether a planning application is approved, rejected or modified.
The plan, once passed through external examination and a public vote, would sit alongside Merton’s Local plan, and carry equal legal weight.
Whilst the Neighbourhood Plan cannot contradict anything in the Local Plan, it can add important detail affecting materials, design and aesthetics, building type and location and public safety. It also allows us to identify, protect and improve green spaces, views and buildings which we regard as part of the character and heritage of Wimbledon.
For more information, see FAQs here.
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