Chinnor Neighbourhood Plan – Review Progress May 2020

The Plan has been accepted by The Inspector and has the approval of SODC.

Due to Covid-19 the referendum cannot take place until May 2021.

Although the referendum will not take place this year, the decision statement has been published and as such the plan can be given significant weight in decision-making in any future planning applications.

Congratulations were given to the steering group for their continued hard work.

January 2020

Dear  Dorottya,

I can confirm that my Council reviewed this letter at their planning meeting on Monday 13^th January 2020 and would like you to proceed with regard to item 3 ‘Qualifying Body for the examination of the Review Plan to proceed under the provisions of Schedule 4B’.

For your information I can also confirm that a copy of the letter has been placed on the Parish Council and Chinnor Neighbourhood Plan Websites.

Please do advise if I need to take any further action.

Kind Regards

 Liz Folley

Clerk

Chinnor Parish Council

Dear Mrs Folley and Ms Faludi

CHINNOR NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN REVIEW EXAMINATION

Further to my initial procedural letter of 8 January 2020 (Ref: 01/DAS/CNPR) following the submission of the Chinnor Neighbourhood Plan Review for examination, I now write to confirm further procedural matters.  

1. The Examination 

 Following receipt on 13 January 2020 of the formal consent of the Qualifying Body, I confirm that the examination of the Chinnor Neighbourhood Plan Review (the Plan Review) will now proceed under the provisions of Schedule 4B to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) (‘Schedule 4B’).    

 Site Visit

 I intend to undertake a site visit to the neighbourhood plan area during the week commencing 17 February 2020.  This will assist in my assessment of the Plan Review, including the issues identified in the representations.

 The site visit will be undertaken unaccompanied.  It is very important that I am not approached to discuss any aspects of the Plan Review or the neighbourhood area, as this may be perceived to prejudice my independence and risk compromising the fairness of the examination process.

 After my site visit, I may have a number of questions seeking further clarification on aspects of the Plan Review. 

 Written Representations

 At this stage, I consider the examination can be conducted solely by the written representations procedure, without the need for a hearing.  However, I will reserve the option to convene a hearing should a matter(s) come to light where I consider that a hearing is necessary to ensure the adequate examination of an issue, or to ensure that a person has a fair chance to put a case.

 4.    Examination Timetable

 As you will be aware, the normal intention is to examine a Plan (including conduct of the site visit) with a view to providing a draft report (for ‘fact checking’) within 4-6 weeks of submission of the draft Plan.  In this case, due to my earlier determination that the examination should proceed under the provisions of Schedule 4B and the need to obtain the formal consent of the Qualifying Body to that procedure, the timetable will be extended.  However, I will endeavour to undertake the examination as expeditiously as possible. 

 If you have any process questions related to the conduct of the examination, which you would like me to address, please do not hesitate to contact the office team in the first instance.

 In the interests of transparency, may I prevail upon you to ensure that a copy of this letter is placed on both the Qualifying Body and Local Authority websites.

 Thank you in advance for your assistance.

 Your sincerely

 Derek Stebbing

 Examiner