Needham Market
Neighbourhood Plan
Public Consultation Update December 2020
Please click on the link below to view the notice received from Mid Suffolk District Council regarding Regulation 16 Public Consultation.
REG16 Public Consultation Notice
Planning Application DC/20/05046
Land On The North West Side Of Barking Road Needham Market Suffolk
Application for Outline Planning Permission (some matters reserved, access to be considered). Town and Country Planning Act 1990. – Erection of 279No dwellings (including 100 affordable dwellings) and access.
The Town Council received formal notice of this Planning Application, in its capacity as a consultee, on 11th November. The notice included a deadline for submitting comment by 2nd December 2020.
In view of the scale and significance of the (Outline) development proposal, the Town Council:
- Has requested an extension of the deadline for submission of comments. The request has been agreed by Mid Suffolk District Council and the new deadline is Friday 22nd January 2021.
- Has engaged a professional Planning Consultant to support the Council in determining a consultation response. The consultant’s activity will include an assessment of the development proposal in comparison with the policies and objectives included in the Needham Market Neighbourhood Plan (as submitted to Mid Suffolk District Council).
- Encourages members of our community to express their views on the development proposal by responding directly to the Mid Suffolk District Council consultation on it. It is important individual comments are received by the District Council otherwise a comment made as part of a multiple submission (i.e. en-bloc) will count as a single comment only.
The Town Council is aiming to provide a comprehensive draft response by the end of December, which it will publicise on its website and via social media. A final response will be adopted by the Town Council at its 20th January 2021 meeting and submitted to Mid Suffolk District Council in order to meet the 22nd January 2021 deadline.
Needham Market Neighbourhood Plan
Update November 2020
The Town Council has formally submitted the Needham Market Neighbourhood Plan and associated documents to Mid Suffolk District Council (the Local Planning Authority) in accordance with Regulation 15 of The Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012.
The Needham Market Neighbourhood Plan sets out a vision for the future of the town and planning policies which will be used towards determining planning applications locally. The plan period is 2020 to 2036.
Following submission, responsibility for taking the Neighbourhood Plan process forward lies with the Local Planning Authority. Mid Suffolk District Council will publicise the plan and arrange for its independent examination. The examination will consider whether the Neighbourhood Plan meets basic conditions and other legal requirements. If successful at the examination stage, with modifications if necessary, then Mid Suffolk District Council will arrange for a Neighbourhood Plan referendum. If there is a majority yes vote, then the Neighbourhood Plan is made and becomes part of the statutory development plan for the area.
Below are the Needham Market Neighbourhood Plan documents, submitted to Mid Suffolk District Council:
Needham Market Neighbourhood Plan Basic Conditions Document:
Needham Market NP Basic Conditions Statement Reg 16 Submission Version Oct 2020
Needham Market Neighbourhood Plan Consultation Statement Document:
Needham Market NP Consultation Statement Reg 16 Submission Version Oct 2020
The Needham Market Neighbourhood Plan Document
AECOM Design Guidelines Document section 1 (pages 1-10)
AECOM Design Guidelines Document section 2 (pages 11-15)
AECOM Design Guidelines Document section 3 (pages 16-25)
AECOM Design Guidelines Document section 4 (pages 26-50)
AECOM Design Guidelines Document final section (pages 51-55)
September 2018 Update:
The September 2018 edition of the Town Council Newsletter contains a centre insert that summarises the AECOM Feasibility Report.
Please click on the following link for:
Needham Market Neighbourhood Plan – (Summarised AECOM Feasibility Report)
To enable the Feasibility Report to be uploaded to this website, it has been split into 3 accessible parts. Please click on the following links for:
AECOM Feasibility Report Part 1
AECOM Feasibility Report Part 2
AECOM Feasiblity Report Part 3
Needham Market Neighbourhood Plan – June 2018 Update
The Town Council has engaged, from the beginning of the year, with Central Government funding, AECOM (Masterplanning consultants) to produce a feasibility study on the concept of the creation of a relief road, connecting Barking Road with Stowmarket Road. The relief road is intended to form a new development boundary for the town in response to anticipated housing growth and relieving the High Street of additional traffic that will result from that growth. The approach is also intended to provide a strategic plan for new infrastructure (Health, Education etc.) commensurate with the demand new housing development generates. The AECOM report on the Feasibility Study is now finalised and will be presented to Town Councillors, representatives from Mid Suffolk District Council and Barking Parish Council (the latter as the projected route of the relief road extends slightly beyond the current Needham Market boundary) in mid-July. Immediately following that presentation, the report will be made available for public viewing and a public engagement/consultation event will be arranged.
2016 Draft Needham Market Neighbourhood Plan
The information below refers to the publication of the draft Needham Market Neighbourhood Plan, work on which ceased in 2016 due to lack of a Local Plan and a 5 Year Housing Land Supply (both of which are the responsibility of Mid Suffolk District Council)
March 2016
The November 2015 edition of the Town Council’s monthly Newsletter included an important update on the next stages of the process for finalising the Needham Market Neighbourhood Plan. It referred to crucial information required from Mid Suffolk District Council. The District Council has not maintained its 5-year Housing Land Supply Policy which, if in place, provides a strategic management plan for how the District will grow its housing availability. In the absence of that Policy and, with a well publicised ‘housing crisis’ across the country, the Town Council’s work on progressing our Neighbourhood Plan to completion is taking place in a vacuum. Following meetings with senior managers at the District Council during the latter part of last year, we were told the vital information would be available by the end of the year. Little did we suspect, as we are now well into March, we would still be waiting for this information.
The lack of essential Policy at the District Council has effectively left the door open to housing developers to put forward development proposals which, if the Policy was in place, and in particular where a Neighbourhood Plan was able to be completed, could be considered speculative. In the absence of a relevant District Council Policy, the onus on a developer to justify a proposal for housing development is substantially different. If the District Council has a Policy in place it would be given considerable weight in decision making on housing development proposals. Without a District Council Policy (i.e. the position we are in) proposals for new housing development need only to be proved sustainable. At the Town Council meeting held on 2nd March, Hopkins Homes delivered a presentation on their proposal to build 150 new houses off Barking Road, their motivation for submitting the proposal and their total confidence that planning approval will be granted was driven by the fact the District Council has failed to maintain a 5-year Housing Supply Policy.
The other important factor which stems from the inability of the Town Council to finalise its Neighbourhood Plan, is the impact that position will have on the amount of funding due to the Town Council from the developer, should the development gain Planning Approval and proceed. Hopkins Homes have estimated they will have to contribute approximately £650,000 in developer contributions should the proposed development of 150 houses off Barking Road take place. If the Town has a Neighbourhood Plan in Place, 25% of that contribution would come directly to the Town Council. If no Neighbourhood Plan is in place this contribution reduces to 15%, in which case the local community will be deprived of around £65,000 of funding. This is a good deal of money for a town the size of Needham Market and could go a long way towards providing additional local amenities or helping to support those already in place (e.g. Needham Market Library).
The position the Town Council finds itself in is deeply frustrating. Our Draft Neighbourhood Plan, which reflects over two years of comprehensive consultation with our local community, makes it clear local people wish to see the development of ‘Brownfield Sites’ (i.e. those previously used for a purpose such as the recently developed Needham Maltings site and the to-be developed Needham Chalk Quarry site) exhausted before any development takes place on ‘Greenfield sites’ (i.e. agricultural land surrounding the town’s existing development boundary).
The Town Council is fully aware of and accepts that growth of the town is necessary but feels very much now on the ‘back foot’ as far as trying to influence where that growth may take place. The Town Council continues to put pressure on the District Council to come up with the vital information on which it can review and rebase its current Draft Neighbourhood Plan.
Hopkins Homes are at least providing the Town Council and our community the opportunity to see and discuss their proposals for land off Barking Road in advance of their submission of a Planning Application. The Town Council will certainly take that opportunity and encourages members of its community to do the same.
Hopkins Homes is holding a drop-in public consultation event on Monday 14th March at Needham Market Community Centre, from 3pm to 8pm. After the event Hopkins Homes will have a website www.barkingroadneedhammarket.co.uk which will have material from the consultation on view.
The Needham Market Neighbourhood Plan is one of a fast growing number of new style planning documents which are based on the views of local residents and business communities. Central Government has encouraged local people to become involved in locally prepared plans through the Localism Act and this supports communities having a greater say in the way their locality is developed.
Mid Suffolk District Council has adopted a Core Strategy planning document to explain where and how economic development and housing growth will take place in the period to 2025/6. The Core Strategy includes Needham Market. Needham Market Town Council believes it is important that its local community has a chance to comment on the location and possible impact of future development as the Core Strategy stipulates Needham Market will be expected to accept some new housing development during the Core Strategy period.
In the absence of an Area Action Plan explaining how local new housing development is to be delivered, the Town Council resolved to facilitate the creation of a local planning policy document which is a fair reflection of the local community’s aims for its neighbourhood, i.e. a Neighbourhood Plan. The Needham Market Neighbourhood Plan intends to ensure there is a clear overview of future development proposals, thereby anticipating issues growth of the town may present.
To accommodate the District Council’s own strategic plan parameters the Town Council has proposed application of the fifteen year period, 2015 – 2030, to its own Neighbourhood Plan.
Needham Market’s Neighbourhood Plan has been developed by a dedicated group of Town Councillors, the Town Clerk and a Planning advisor with experience of community plan making. They have sought and taken into account the views of the town’s residents and businesses and a range of stakeholders gathered through a series of consultation events, questionnaires and surveys, which are documented in the appendices of the Neighbourhood Plan. The foundations of the Neighbourhood Plan are based on a diligent review of statistical and other relevant evidence gathered from a considerable scope of research and investigation. This information can be found in the Appendix “Building the Evidence Base”. Complimentary information is contained in the Suffolk Acre research document which combines local and census data about Needham Market.
The Needham Market Neighbourhood Plan sets out a vision for the future of the town focussed on local aspirations, which is rational and acknowledges the context of the town in national, regional and district planning control.
The plan has to conform to the national hierarchy of planning guidance and a downloadable copy of the plan, together with links to all the supporting documents, is listed below.
Final Draft NM Neighbourhood Plan June 2015
Final Draft Building the Evidence Base June 2015 Appendix A
Consultation Process Summary June 2015 Appendix B
Neighbourhood Plan Consultation Letter Parishes 03.04.14 (CONA)
ATM 2014 Invite and NP Consultation Letter for groups and organisations (CONB)
Public Consultation Event 21.06.14 Summary (CONC)
Neighbourhood Plan Business Consultation Letter 18.07.14 (COND)
Neighbourhood Plan Insert September 2014 Newsletter (CONE)
Neighbourhood Plan Consultation Event 21.3.2015 (CONF)
Consultation Event Photo 21.03.15 (CONG)