Decision details

That the Wimborne Minster neighbourhood area be modified to include the entire parish area of Wimborne Minster, as proposed by Wimborne Minster Town Council.  

Scheme of delegation 

Under the Officer Scheme of Delegation (April 2019), the Executive Director of Place has the power (138) “To undertake all action in relation to any function of the Council concerning neighbourhood planning” including 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.  

This power only applies, however, when there is insufficient time to have the matter considered by the relevant committee as part of the normal committee cycle; the Council is legally obliged to approve the designation; and/or there has been no objection to the proposal submitted to the Council within any relevant time for the submission of representations which has not been withdrawn. 

This power (138) with conditions / limitations has been delegated to the Community Planning Manager though the Local Scheme of Nomination for Planning Services (29 April 2022).  

On this occasion, Dorset Council is legally obliged to approve the application by the parish council as it meets the requirements set out in legislation. The conditions within the Officer Scheme of Delegation / Local Scheme of Nomination have now been met and a decision should be made without delay. 

Neighbourhood Area designation 

On 6 June 2025 Dorset Council received a neighbourhood area application from Wimborne Minster Town Council. As required by regulation 5 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012, the application included a map which identified the area, a statement explaining why this area is considered appropriate, and a statement that the organisation is a relevant body for the purposes of Section 61G of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.  

Regulation 5A states that: 

1. …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 area, none of that neighbourhood area extends outside the parish council’s area. 

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

At the same time, regulation 5A paragraph (3) outlines that under the circumstances set out in paragraph (1), above, there is no requirement for a local planning authority to consult on the proposed neighbourhood area. 

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. 

Wimborne Minster Town Council (the parish council) has applied to have the whole of its parish area designated as a neighbourhood area. The area specified in the application does not extend beyond the Wimborne Minster parish boundary and does not overlap with other neighbourhood areas already designated or applied for and awaiting determination.  

Regulation 5A of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 (as amended) therefore applies to this application. The legislation requires Dorset Council to exercise its powers under section 61G of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and designate the area as a ‘neighbourhood area’.  

A neighbourhood area for Wimborne Minster was previously designated under section 61G on 13 February 2020. This covered the whole of what was then the Wimborne Minster parish area. Since then there has been a Community Governance Review of parishes in Dorset. On 1^st April 2024, a number of parish boundaries, including Wimborne Minster, were modified. The Wimborne Minster parish area was enlarged, with two small additions on the western side.  

Paragraph 6 of Section 61G of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 allows local planning authorities to modify existing neighbourhood areas when determining an area application. Paragraph 6A makes it explicit that this includes changing the boundary of an existing neighbourhood area. There is no legal mechanism to delete an existing neighbourhood area. Therefore, Dorset Council, in determining this application, will modify the existing Wimborne Minster neighbourhood area so that it matches the new Wimborne Minster parish area as it was defined on 1^st April 2024.  

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 is clear that a neighbourhood area should only be designated as a business area if it is ‘wholly or predominantly business in nature’. 

The parish of Wimborne Minster can be described as a market town, consisting of businesses and also a resident population of around 10,000 people. In June 2025 there were 6,081 registered addresses, with 5,551 (91%) being classed as residential, and 502 (9%) classed as commercial. As such, there is clear evidence that the area does not meet the description of being ‘wholly or predominantly business in nature’, and therefore it would not be appropriate to designate it as a ‘business area’.  

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