Decision details

That the neighbourhood plan area following the parish boundary of Sturminster Marshall, as proposed by Sturminster Marshall Parish Council, be designated.

It is not proposed to designate the Sturminster Marshall neighbourhood area as a business area.

Scheme of delegation (April 2019) delegation No 138, additional delegations to the Executive Director, Place.  

Neighbourhood Area designation

Dorset Council has received a neighbourhood plan area application from Sturminster Marshall Parish Council (East Dorset area).  The application was submitted to East Dorset District Council on 11 March 2019 however there was insufficient time for their application to be approved by the last East Dorset Full Council. The parish council was informed that Dorset Council would instead take their application forward.

Neighbourhood Planning (General) and Development Management Procedure (Amendment) Regulations 2016, Regulation 5A states that where:

a)    a local planning authority receives an area application from a parish council;

b)    the area specified in the application consists of the whole of the parish council’s area; and

c)    if any part of the specified area is part of a neighbourhood plan area, none of that neighbourhood area extends outside the parish council’s area;

the local planning authority must exercise their powers under section 61G of the 1990 Act to designate the specified area as a neighbourhood plan area.

Regulation 5A also states that where this regulation applies, regulations 6 and 6A (which require consultation) do not apply. 

These provisions are summarised in Paragraph 032 (Reference ID: 41-032-20170728) of the neighbourhood planning section of the national Planning Practice Guidance (PPG). This states:

“Where a parish council applies for the whole of the area of the parish to be designated as a neighbourhood area, the local planning authority must designate the whole of the area applied for. This includes where a parish applies to extend its existing neighbourhood area to its parish boundary. Exceptions to this are where the area applied for:

·         has already been designated as a neighbourhood area which extends beyond the parish boundary; or

·         forms part of another application that has not yet been determined.”

Other provisions in the 2016 Regulations also indicate that in the circumstances outlined above, there is no requirement for a local planning authority to consult on the proposed neighbourhood plan area. However, the responsibility for designation still rests with the Council. 

In the case of Sturminster Marshall, the Parish Council has applied for the whole of the parish to be designated as a neighbourhood area and none of the exceptions in Paragraph 032 of the neighbourhood planning section of the PPG apply. Under the 2016 Regulations there is, therefore, no requirement to consult on the application and the Council “must designate the whole of the area applied for”.

Scheme of delegation

Under the officer scheme of delegation (April 2019), the Executive Director of Place has the power to “make a final determination as to whether to designate a neighbourhood plan area and/or make such an area a business area”.

The Local Scheme of Nomination (April 2019) sets out which functions have been nominated by the Executive Director of Place and any conditions or limitations. This includes the power “to designate neighbourhood plan areas (where the Council must exercise its powers to designate the specified area applied for as a neighbourhood plan area) and neighbourhood forums”. The only condition / limitation is that the “Ward members and the relevant Portfolio Holder being informed”.

As a valid application has been received from Sturminster Marshall, the Council must designate a neighbourhood area.

Business Area

Section 61H of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, as amended by the Localism Act 2011, requires that when designating a neighbourhood area, a local planning authority should consider whether the area concerned should be designated as a business area. If a business area is designated, local businesses would have the opportunity to be more involved in the formation of the neighbourhood plan and would get an opportunity to vote (alongside registered electors) in the later referendum on whether the neighbourhood plan should come into force. However, this section of the Act also makes it clear that a neighbourhood area should only be designated as a business area if it is “wholly or predominantly business in nature”.

Although Sturminster Marshall contains the Bailie Gate Industrial Estate, it also includes areas of residential development and significant areas of countryside and on this basis it is not considered appropriate to designate the neighbourhood area as a business area.