Decision details

To declare that the whole of Hazlemere Parish Council area has now been designated as a Neighbourhood Area in accordance with Regulation 5A of The Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 as amended.

On the 12th August 2021 Hazlemere Parish Council submitted a Neighbourhood Area Application to declare the entire Parish Council area as a Neighbourhood Area. the originally submitted map was unclear and so Buckinghamshire Council sourced an alternative map to show the proposed neighbourhood area and this map was used as the basis of the decision.

The Hazlemere Parish Council application was submitted under the Regulation 5A inserted into the 2012 Neighbourhood Planning Regulations by regulations which came into force on the 1st October 2016.

The effect of Regulation 5A is that if a parish council submits a Neighbourhood Area Application to include the whole of its parish area within the Neighbourhood Area the Local Planning Authority (Buckinghamshire Council in this case) has to use its powers under the Act to designate the Neighbourhood Area.

In addition, the regulations state that where a parish has submitted a Neighbourhood Area application to include the whole of its parish in the neighbourhood area that the Local Planning Authority is not required to consult or publicise the Neighbourhood Area Application. Therefore, Buckinghamshire Council has not carried out any publicity of the Neighbourhood Area Application.

Because it is a requirement of the Neighbourhood Planning (England) Regulations 2012 as amended that if a parish council submits a valid application to declare the whole of its parish area as a neighbourhood area the local planning authority has to use its powers to designate the area applied for there are no other alternative options. If the neighbourhood area application had been invalid, then the Council could have rejected it