The possibility of creating a Neighbourhood Plan for the village of Sutton Poyntz was first discussed in 2010 by the Sutton Poyntz Society, even before the Localism Act became law, but the absence of parish status meant that there were several barriers to progress. However, following discussions with Borough Council officers, the Sutton Poyntz Society applied for and succeeded in gaining recognition as a non-parish Neighbourhood Forum by the Weymouth and Portland Borough Council in early 2016 and consequently became responsible for consulting with all stakeholders and preparing the Neighbourhood Plan for Sutton Poyntz.
A Steering Group consisting of both members and non-members of the Sutton Poyntz Society was formed in May 2016 following a call for volunteers in a community-wide Newsletter (Newsletter No.1). The Steering Group was directed to operate within the Terms of Reference produced by the Neighbourhood Forum and to provide a structure for the project, promote consultation with all stakeholders within the Neighbourhood Area, collate information with a view to forming draft policies and aspirations and to facilitate the successful delivery of a draft Neighbourhood Plan.
As part of the early development of a Neighbourhood Plan, the Steering Group agreed to establish a sub-group which was given the specific task of producing a Place Appraisal. This was published as a draft ‘living document’ in November 2017 and formed a major part of the Stage Two public consultation process undertaken in the period December 2017 to January 2018. Feedback received was given careful consideration and incorporated into a revised document. The Place Appraisal has been continuously reviewed throughout the planning process to ensure accuracy and consistency, particularly where referenced by the Neighbourhood Plan and was closed upon submission of the final version of the Plan.
The Neighbourhood Plan policies were developed by six sub-groups (Biodiversity and the Natural Environment; Employment, Business and Tourism including IT and Communications; Heritage; Housing and Planning; Sports and Recreation and Transport) based upon research and evidence collection as well as feedback from public consultation. The final Plan when ‘made’ will form part of the development plan for the area alongside the Council’s Local Plan and must be taken into consideration during future planning decisions by the Local Authority.
For the avoidance of doubt, no planning policy in the Sutton Poyntz Neighbourhood Plan can extend beyond the current designated neighbourhood area (i.e. into the wider Weymouth area) without the neighbourhood area being formally extended and any policy being subject to a comprehensive review. The policies in the Sutton Poyntz Neighbourhood Plan will apply to the Sutton Poyntz Neighbourhood Plan area only until they are formally reviewed (or, by default, upon the expiry of the Plan period).
The Neighbourhood Plan is restricted in terms of policy to those matters affecting land use and development. The plan does however also promote aspirations that the community have expressed a desire to progress and these can be actioned outside of the scope of planning policy through various public bodies, third parties and community stakeholder co-operation.
The proposal to produce a Neighbourhood Plan and consultation on the area to be covered was publicised in a community newsletter in February 2016 and following representations from some residents the Neighbourhood Area was amended to include additional properties which had been previously excluded from the area. Note that a small part of the village lies outside of the Neighbourhood Plan area due to the location in a different local authority area.
To meet statutory requirements, the draft Neighbourhood Forum and Neighbourhood Plan Area Application was submitted to Weymouth and Portland Borough Council on 27 May 2016. The formal consultation period ran from 10 June to 5 August 2016 during which period there was extensive publicity and an opportunity for objections or concerns to be formally raised. A total of eight representations were received. However, these did not constitute grounds for further amendment or rejection of the proposals and formal approval was given on 20th September 2016 by the Weymouth and Portland Borough Council. This resulted in the following Neighbourhood Area being defined
MAP 1 – NEIGHBOURHOOD AREA
MAP 1a – NEIGHBOURHOOD AREA (Southern Boundary – expanded view)
MAP 1b – NEIGHBOURHOOD AREA (Boundary on Plaisters Lane– expanded view)
The plan will last until 2031 by which time it will need to have been reviewed and extended if it is to continue to have validity. This duration aligns with that of the Local Plan.
The making of this Neighbourhood Plan does not constrain Weymouth Town Council from preparing any future Weymouth Neighbourhood Plan. Planning legalisation (section 61M of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 as amended) is also clear that Weymouth Town Council as the qualifying body for the Weymouth parish area, in conjunction with Dorset Council as the Local Planning Authority, have the power to take forward modifications to the Neighbourhood Plan at any time.
Community engagement has been central to our activity. The Plan has been developed through extensive consultation with the people of Sutton Poyntz and others with an interest in the area. Details of each consultation have been recorded in the Consultation Statement which is available on the Sutton Poyntz Village Website. The Steering Group established several topic Sub-Groups (see 1.1) to collate evidence, mostly based upon public consultation, and draft detailed policies and aspirations for inclusion in the draft Neighbourhood Plan. Information was made publicly accessible on the Sutton Poyntz Village web site as the process progressed. The final plan was collated and endorsed by the Steering Group in draft form and subjected to a formal six-week public consultation with stakeholders prior to the Plan being modified to take account of the feedback and subsequently submitted to the Local Authority for formal process.
The following key stages of consultation took place:
February to May 2016: Proposal for Neighbourhood Area
October 2016: Stage One Survey to determine vision, objectives and key issues in relation to topic areas
March 2017: Proposals for, and invitation to join, Sub-Groups. The Sub-Groups subsequently met periodically to research and draft the relevant sections for the Neighbourhood Plan.
December 2017 to January 2018: Stage Two Survey undertaken, the results of which were used to help inform specific policy development.
February to September 2018: Invitation to landowners with land outside the Defined Development Boundary to discuss proposals for future land use. Two open meetings were held following requests from Terry Pegrum (19th June 2018) and Christopher Seal of PJ Seal Estates (6th July 2018).
April to May 2018: Invitation for affected landowners to respond to the independent consultant reports on Local Green Spaces and Key Views. Written replies were provided to affected landowners and a meeting held with Wessex Water at their head office on 13th September 2018.
September to November 2018: Invitation for affected property owners to respond to the independent consultant’s assessment report on non-designated heritage assets which was followed by an open meeting with the consultant (4th October 2018) and a subsequent review of the report.
September to October 2018: Strategic Environmental Assessment consultation with statutory bodies through the Weymouth and Portland Borough Council.
November to December 2018: Formal Regulation 14 Consultation period – A total of 37 written responses were received all of which were acknowledged, individual replies drafted, and consultation comments considered by the Steering Group prior to revision of the draft Neighbourhood Plan.
Note: A detailed account of the consultation process is provided within the Consultation Statement which accompanies the submission of this Neighbourhood Development Plan.
An extensive local government reorganisation took place in Dorset. As of 01 April 2019, the local government structure in the Weymouth area became two-tier with Dorset Unitary and Weymouth Town Council being created. Government guidance states that in a designated neighbourhood area which contains all or part of the administrative area of a town or parish council, the town or parish council is responsible for neighbourhood planning as the qualifying body. Therefore, as at 01 April 2019, Weymouth Town Council became the qualifying body authorised for the purposes of neighbourhood planning in relation to the designated Sutton Poyntz Neighbourhood Area.
It should be noted that the Sutton Poyntz Neighbourhood Plan has largely been prepared by the Sutton Poyntz Society, the previous qualifying body for the Sutton Poyntz area. The Sutton Poyntz Society was designated as a neighbourhood forum in September 2016 however as a consequence of local government reorganisation a new town council for Weymouth (including the Sutton Poyntz area) formed on the 1st April 2019. Legislation states that a designation of a neighbourhood forum as a qualifying body ceases to have effect if a new parish council (or town council) is created.
Weymouth Town Council will be responsible for monitoring the Sutton Poyntz Neighbourhood Plan and will do this in consultation with the Sutton Poyntz Neighbourhood Forum.
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