GRCC Neighbourhood Development Plan Event

'Relax.  Have a party' was the advice given by Neighbourhood Plan Examiner Liz Beth to groups at GRCC's Neighbourhood Plan event on 10th July.  This was the first step in her summary of action to take once you have completed your NDP.  Attendees at Liz's workshop learnt how to make bet use of their NDP and how to review and modify it to ensure its effective use to determine planning applications in their area.  That is, after all, the whole purpose of a Neighbourhood Plan.

Over 50 attendees joined this GRCC event at the University of Gloucestershire on 10th July and with around 25 Gloucestershire NDPs represented, as well as those 'bubbling under', there were plenty of experiences to share.  Workshops followed presentations from John Wilkinson from Locality, who provided an overview and showed an introductory YouTube video on NDPs, and James Derounian's lively presentation on his NDP experiences as an examiner, Principle Lecturer in Community Engagement and Local Governance, and as a member of a steering group.  Liz Beth also provided examples of evidence gathering to support policies in Neighbourhood Plans and answered questions about 'how much evidence is enough?'

Other workshop topics included defining the design character of an area and the basics of Neighbourhood Planning.  

Attendees obviously valued the event and our thanks to presenters and attendees for making it so worthwhile.  Comments from attendees included:

I valued listening to real experiences of Neighbourhood Planning and hearing direct from Examiners.

The event helped me to understand the process so much better.

You can download PDFs of the presentations here:

You can also download GRCC's handy 'On a page' guide to the NDP Process and Support.

Don't forget that GRCC offers a FREE community-led planning presentation/workshop to communities to support collective understanding of the process, benefits and concerns involved in undertaking a NDP or any form of community-led planning.  Contact info@grcc.org.uk if you would like more details.