Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan 2019-2031

The Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan was made (adopted) by Dorset Council on 22 June 2021.

Following a majority 'yes' vote in the referendum, the decision was taken to make the Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan part of the development plan for the Shaftesbury neighbourhood area.

The decision statement and the 'made' Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan Part 1 (chapters 1-4), Part 2 (chapters 5-6), Part 3 (appendices) are available online and will be available to view at the council's offices (address below) during normal opening hours when the offices reopen to the public.

Dorset Council
County Hall
Dorchester
Dorset
DT1 1XJ

Referendum Result

The Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan referendum was held on Thursday 6 May 2021 and asked residents: "Do you want Dorset Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Shaftesbury to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?"

A majority voted in favour of the neighbourhood plan (YES votes: 1556; NO votes: 216). The turnout was 26.9%. More details regarding the results, plus details of the other elections and referendums that took place that day can be found here.

As a result, the plan will now proceed to Cabinet on 22 June 2021 where a decision will be made on formally making the Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan part of the development plan for the area covered by Shaftesbury Town Council (the Shaftesbury neighbourhood area).

Referendum

Dorset Council agreed with the findings of the Examiner’s Report and agreed that a referendum should take place on Thursday 6 May 2021. Documents relating to the referendum are listed below:

Information Statement – provides details on the referendum, such as the question that will be asked, where and when the referendum will be held, who is entitled to vote, and can you can vote (including by post or proxy)
Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan 2019 - 2031 (referendum version)
Decision Statement (4 February 2021) – a statement by the local planning authority that the plan as proposed meets the basic conditions
Summary of Representations received to the regulation 16 consultation
Examiner's Final Report (August 2020)

Decision to proceed to referendum

Following the successful examination of the Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan, Dorset Council has agreed that the plan, as amended, can proceed to referendum. The council released a Decision Statement on 4 February 2021 to this effect.

Regulations linked to the Coronavirus Act 2020 mean that neighbourhood plan referendums cannot take place until 6 May 2021. These measures mean that neighbourhood plans may come into force later than they would have done. With this in mind the Government has updated current planning guidance to set out that neighbourhood plans awaiting referendums can be given significant weight in decision making.

The Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan 2019-2031 (referendum version) should therefore be taken into account and given significant weight in decision-making, so far as the plan is material to the application.

Examiner's Report

Mr David Hogger BA MSc MRTPI MCIHT issued his report on the submitted Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan on 13 August 2020. He concludes that provided the recommendations that he makes are followed, then the plan would meet the basic conditions. He therefore recommends that the plan, as modified, can proceed to referendum. Dorset Council’s Portfolio Holder for Planning, Cllr David Walsh, will decide, in due course, whether the plan should proceed to referendum.

In particular, the examiner had to consider whether the plan meets certain basic conditions, satisfies legal requirements, and identifies an appropriate area for a referendum. The basic conditions, which are set out in the legislation, are intended to ensure that neighbourhood plans are compatible with their wider context. The plan must:

have regard to national planning policies and advice contained in guidance issued by the Secretary of State;
contribute to achieving sustainable development;
be in general conformity with the strategic policies of the development plan for the area (the North Dorset Local Plan); and,
be compatible with EU obligations and human rights requirements

The examiner provided a review of the plan and made recommendations in accordance with the 2011 Localism Act and related regulations.

If the neighbourhood plan is supported by a local referendum, it will be used to make decisions on planning applications.

Plan examination

In accordance with Regulation 17 of The Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012, the submitted plan, supporting documents, and all representations received during the 6-week consultation period were sent to an Independent Examiner (David Hogger BA MSc MRTPI MCIHT). The Examiner considers whether the plan meets certain basic conditions, satisfies legal requirements, and will identify an appropriate area for a referendum.

On 11 May 2020, the examiner wrote to Dorset Council and Shaftesbury Town Council with a set of questions. The questions and accompanying letter are provided below:

Consultation on the submitted plan

As the local planning authority, Dorset Council was required to consult on the plan before the examination took place. This consultation took place for six weeks from Friday 7 February to Friday 20 March 2020. The responses received during this period are below.

Representations received to the submitted Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan

Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan Responses
Document Reference	Response
SY1	Atlas Planning Group (on behalf of Ms Hellier)
SY2	Blandford Forum Town Council
SY3	Southern Gas Network
SY4	Caleb Fulford
SY5	National Trust
SY6	Motcombe Parish Council
SY7	Historic England
SY8	Wessex Water
SY9	Cranborne Chase AONB
SY10	Cllr Karen Tippens
SY11	Environment Agency
SY12	Jennifer Weston
SY13	Lidl
SY14	Persimmon Homes
SY15	Richard Thomas
SY16	Shaftesbury Civic Society
SY17	Natural England
SY18	Bernard Ede
SY19	Dorset Council
SY19 - Appendix A	Shaftesbury Town Council Email re. Rolt Millennium Green
SY19 - Appendix B	Shaftesbury Town Council Email re. Map SFCL3