11.1 Charmouth Neighbourhood Plan’s policies have been developed to reflect the ambitions of its residents for their community following detailed consultation. The policies’ primary role is to give local detail to complement the West Dorset Local Plan and be a material consideration for Dorset Council when determining planning applications in Charmouth. Therefore the implementation of the Plan is primarily through the planning application process and ensuring that decisions made by Dorset Council are in line with the community’s objectives for these policies.
11.2 Charmouth Parish Council will continue to provide comments to Dorset Council on planning applications but with a focus on whether or not an application meets the intent of the Neighbourhood Plan policies. On major or sensitive applications the Parish Council will encourage and facilitate for the applicant’s early engagement with the Parish Council/community as appropriate. In addition the Parish Council reserves the right to request from Dorset Council/the applicant information which may be critical to making its observations e.g. a viability study justifying the number of affordable homes in a development; how the proposed design meets policy criteria. The Parish Council may also engage specialist expertise to advise on key issues.
11.3 The Parish Council will monitor the Plan’s performance and report to its Annual Parish Meeting so the community can hear about progress and provide an opportunity to hear any concerns.
11.4 The Plan’s policies refer to the Charmouth Housing Needs Statement which summarises Charmouth’s housing needs by size, type, tenure etc to which new housing must contribute. Current needs have been identified in the 2018 Housing Needs Assessment. The Needs Statement will be regularly reviewed and updated as necessary without the need to formally amend the Plan in its entirety. Updates will be placed on the Parish Council website to inform applicants on current requirements.
11.5 In light of any major changes locally, or to Local Plan or national policies, the Parish Council will decide whether to formally review and seek re-approval of the whole Plan but it is hoped that by updating the Charmouth Housing Needs Statement, the Plan will have a minimum life of 5 years.
11.6 An important by-product of consulting with the community on the neighbourhood plan has been the development of a programme of village improvement projects. These projects will be undertaken by a variety of organisations and voluntary groups but the Parish Council will liaise with them on actions and report on the overall progress on delivering this programme at its Annual Parish Meeting. See Appendix G.
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