3.1 In preparing our Neighbourhood Plan we are obliged, by law8, to:
3.2 In preparing the Neighbourhood Plan we have been mindful of the current National Planning Framework. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out the Government’s planning policy to which all plans and proposals for development should comply. The NPPF includes, at its heart, a “presumption in favour of sustainable development” (NPPF para. 11). It states that “neighbourhood plans should support the delivery of strategic policies contained in local plans or spatial development strategies; and should shape and direct development that is outside of these strategic policies” (NPPF para. 13). The NPPF goes on to say that “strategic policies [in the Local Plan] should not extend to detailed matters that are more appropriately dealt with through neighbourhood plans” (NPPF para. 21). Outside of strategic policies therefore, we are encouraged to shape and direct sustainable development in our area through our Neighbourhood Plan. “Neighbourhood planning gives communities the power to develop a shared vision for their area. Neighbourhood plans can shape, direct, and help to deliver sustainable development, by influencing local planning decisions as part of the statutory development plan” (NPPF para. 29).
3.3 The West Dorset and Weymouth & Portland Local Plan was adopted by Weymouth and Portland Borough Council on 15 October 2015. The Borough and its council was abolished on 1 April 2019 and, together with the other 5 districts outside the greater Bournemouth area, formed a new Dorset unitary authority. At the same time, a town council serving only Weymouth was formed, called Weymouth Town Council.
3.4 Dorset Council, the Local Planning Authority (LPA), is committed to preparing a new Local Plan for the county area. An extensive consultation on a first draft of a Dorset Local Plan took place in 2021. It was hoped that a new local Plan could be adopted in 2024. However, the 2021 consultation received a large response – more than 9,000 submissions. The LPA is required to give full consideration to all the responses in preparing the Local Plan. For that reason, the Local Development Scheme for Dorset Council has been updated to reflect a change in timescale for the Dorset Council9 Local Plan and other planning documents. This would see the Dorset Local Plan being adopted in 2026, depending upon examination by a National Planning Inspector.
3.5 Until such time as it is superseded by a new Local Plan, the West Dorset and Weymouth & Portland Local Plan remains the current adopted strategic plan with which the Weymouth Neighbourhood Plan must generally conform.
3.6 Specifically, the policies in the Weymouth Neighbourhood Plan should not conflict with the strategic policies in the prevailing Local Plan. Guidance on which policies should be considered as ‘strategic’ has been provided by the LPA. The Local Plan however does acknowledge that a neighbourhood plan can contain policies that are contrary to the non-strategic policies in the Local Plan.
3.7 The Local Plan includes 16 specific strategic policies for the Weymouth area. The Neighbourhood Plan acknowledges the significance and status of these policies. Reference is made to them in this document and how policies in the Neighbourhood Plan relate positively to them.
3.8 Aside from the Local Plan, the Weymouth Neighbourhood Plan acknowledges other documents that form part of the area’s development plan. The LPA may produce supplementary planning documents and guidance when necessary to cover specific topics, sites or to provide more detailed guidance to be taken into account in any planning decisions. At the time of writing there are few such documents that are current other than the Weymouth Town Centre Masterplan and Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) (2015)10. The Dorset National Landscape Management Plan has been of influence.
3.9 The impacts of climate breakdown are causing serious damage around the world. There are global concerns about the enormous harm that a 2°C average rise in global temperatures would likely cause compared with a 1.5°C rise. Unfortunately according to the latest IPCC report11, even limiting global warming to 1.5°C is “becoming increasingly challenging”. Dorset Council is committed to tackling climate change12 and acknowledged the role it must play in helping the whole of Dorset become carbon-neutral by 2050 (at the latest). This includes working with town and parishes, community groups and through key strategic partnerships in Dorset.
3.10 In response to the climate threat, Weymouth Town Council has declared a climate and ecological emergency and is committed to doing what it can to minimise carbon emissions in the Weymouth area, including making the Council’s activities net zero carbon by 2030. Strong policies to cut emissions also have associated health, wellbeing, and economic benefits. The Neighbourhood Plan is recognised as one of the vehicles by which the town can respond to the climate and ecological emergency.
3.11 The Centre for Sustainable Energy believes that “developing a neighbourhood plan offers a unique opportunity for your community to proactively set out a positive and ambitious vision for the future and increase your community’s resilience in the face of the challenges associated with climate emergency”13.
3.12 The new Level 2 SFRA15 identifies risks from several different sources of flooding in Weymouth Town Centre. This issue is not new and has been previously addressed through an earlier strategic flood risk assessment, flood management strategy and a policy for securing contributions to the flood management strategy. Dorset Council are now working on a new Weymouth Harbour and Esplanade Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) Scheme (Strategic Outline Case was agreed by Dorset Council and the EA in 2021, and are now working on the more detailed Outline Business Case which will seek to secure funding for the scheme). With the new Level 2 SFRA, the new FCERM Scheme is likely to be beneficial for Weymouth Town Council for demonstrating that the development in their emerging allocations will be safe over its lifetime.
3.13 The flood note advised that should the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group allocate sites within the Town Centre Flood Zones then sequential and exceptions test would need to be conducted. The Neighbourhood Plan does not propose allocating any sites within Flood Zone 3 in the Town Centre. It is anticipated that the Outline Business Case will help secure the future of Weymouth Town Centre and the needed regeneration.
8 Government Guidance on Neighbourhood Planning
9 The Local Development Scheme for Dorset Council - March 2024
10 Weymouth Town Centre Masterplan 2015
11 AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2023
12 Dorset Council Climate & Ecological Emergency Strategy 2022-2025
13 CSE Neighbourhood Planning in a Climate Emergency 2020
14 WNP Flooding Note - June 2024
15 Weymouth Level 2 Strategic Flood Risk Assessment - Dorset Council
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