Neighbourhood planning can help local communities to deliver real, tangible, benefits for their area.

 

By setting out how a local neighbourhood will meet its housing needs and develop adequate local facilities and infrastructure over the coming years, a neighbourhood plan can provide an important level of certainty for both developers and local residents.

 

Knowing how your community is going to develop is beneficial for everyone. It enables local services to be planned and delivered efficiently to meet the needs of a growing population.

 

Oakham Town Council is preparing a community-led Neighbourhood Plan that will direct the future development of Oakham and Barleythorpe. The Neighbourhood Plan will be part of the statutory development plan for the town and give far more weight to the views of the community in any development proposals.

 

It will be about the use and development of land and contain planning policies, proposals for improving the area, the provision of new facilities or allocation of key sites for specific kinds of development. It will also recognise and use the findings on social issues such as housing, employment, heritage and transport which are relevant to the area.

 

We estimate it will take about two years to finalise and once complete will be subject to a public referendum. If successful, it will go forward to the Local Planning Authority, Rutland County Council, for independent examination before coming into effect.

 

Our community lead Steering Group started earlier in 2016 and are providing this information to give you a better understanding of the process.