Decision details

On the 1st October 2020 Calvert Green Parish Council submitted a Neighbourhood Area Application to declare the entire Parish Council area and part of the adjoining Parish of Charndon as a Neighbourhood Area.

The Calvert Green Parish Council application was submitted under the Regulation 5 of the 2012 Neighbourhood Planning Regulations.

Because the proposed neighbourhood area included part of an adjacent parish council area Buckinghamshire Council was required by the regulations to undertake a minimum six weeks’ publicity.

Following the publicity 23 representations were received of these two were in favour and the remainder against the proposed neighbourhood area designation. However, the objections were made on the basis of a misunderstanding of the neighbourhood plan process and in particular the designation of a neighbourhood area, the designation of a neighbourhood area allows a qualifying body, Charndon Parish Council, in this case, to produce a neighbourhood plan. The designation of a neighbourhood area doesn’t change the planning status of the land included in the area nor does it, as many respondents feared, make a development site allocation. Given the misunderstandings there were no representations made that would alter Buckinghamshire Councils determination of the application.

Buckinghamshire Council has to use its powers under the Act to designate all or part of the neighbourhood area applied for even if it refuses the application area as applied for. However, the area applied for by Calvert Green Parish appears to be logical, the adjacent area of Charndon Parish immediately abuts the village of Calvert Green and so is a logical extension of the neighbourhood area and is included with the agreement of the affected parish council Charndon.

once a valid neighbourhood area application has been made. The Council has to designate all or part of the area applied for even if it rejects the application. Given this the alternative would have been to exclude the area of Charndon parish from the designated neighbourhood area. However, there was no good reason to exclude the area as applied for. If the neighbourhood area application had been invalid, then the Council could have rejected it