Badby Neighbourhood Plan – The Journey

In 2011, the Government’s Localism Act was passed, giving communities direct power to develop a shared vision for their neighbourhood and shape the development and growth of their local area through the preparation of Neighbourhood Plans.

Badby Parish Council started looking into a new Badby Plan in 2013, to replace the Badby Parish Appraisal 2000. A meeting was held for parishioners at the Windmill Inn and from this a start-up group was formed.

Following a preliminary survey, Badby Parish Council established a group that was representative of the local community, including some of its members, to write a plan for the benefit of the community. Parishioners were consulted and their views sought at all stages of the plan. The group was supported and encouraged by Badby Parish Council and progress was monitored and reported to monthly Badby Parish Council meetings.

A draft plan was produced after consultations with parishioners, which was subject to examination by independent bodies, leading to a referendum held on Thursday 24 January 2019. The question asked was “Do you want Daventry District Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan For Badby to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?”. The declaration of results was: 90.2% voted Yes and 9.3% voted No. There was a 43.1% turnout.

Below is a chronology of the work of the group, its meetings, drafts and consultations. Copies of the various documents are available below.

2014

June: A ‘Vision for Badby’ was created which produced a Survey, which was delivered to all households in the village. Survey Summary charts were on display at Badby Fayre in September 2014. This was a pre-cursor to the development of a Badby Plan.

2015

Stage 1: Designation

February: Badby Parish as a Neighbourhood Area was approved by Daventry District Council (DDC) on the request of Badby Parish Council. The Parish Council established a formal Badby Parish Neighbourhood Plan (BPNP) group as a representative group of parishioners to take on the task of producing a Neighbourhood Plan. Funding requirements were identified and an application made to the funding body ‘Locality’. This was successful and the first 6 months of funds were released in July.

Stage 2: Preparation of draft plan

June: Working groups gathered baseline information and evidence, and a Project Plan was produced. Members of the group engaged and informally consulted with parishioners on why plan is needed.

October: A leaflet was delivered to every household in the parish, followed up with a visit. The results of the Village Leafleting were consider by BPNP.

2016

June: The Basic Conditions Outline Mk4 was prepared. Review of existing evidence, gaps identified and new evidence compiled.

February: Public consultation event held to find out more about the process and review Badby’s progress. Display Boards prepared and first draft of policies distributed.

April: BPNP considered summary of comments received at the Public Consultation, and identified and prioritised key issues and themes. Developed key aims, considered sustainability, diversity and equality issues. Considered delivery issues.

September: Public consultation event for parishioners ‘Does Badby need more housing?’ with Display-boards and Summary of responses prepared. Work starts on writing plan with expectation of going through several drafts.

December: DDC undertook a Housing Survey within the Parish to assess local housing needs.

2017

April: At the Annual Parish Meeting, a display of Views in and around Badby which represent the landscape and setting of Badby Parish was shown. Parishioners were asked to rank their preferences and an online poll was run on the website during May and June. An Analysis of Representative Views was prepared.

April: Members of Badby Parish Council met members of the Neighbourhood Plan working group to review progress and consider issues arising from the BPNP’s consultations.

June: A ‘Health check’ was undertaken on the draft plan, carried out by an independent planning officer prior to submitting the final draft for public consultation. Revisions were made to plan following health check.

Stage 3: Consultation on final draft of plan (Regulation 14 Consultation)

October: The formal consultation lasts 6 weeks and includes parishioners, official bodies and any other interested parties. This was run 26 October to 8 December 2017.

2018

Stage 4: Plan revisions following consultation

January: All responses received to the consultation on the Draft plan were considered and appropriate changes made to the Plan. A Consultation Statement was written, including submissions received during the Parish consultation and the BPNP Group’s responses to these.

Stage 5: Regulation 16 Consultation

March: Badby Parish Neighbourhood Plan (Feb 2018 version) was submitted to DDC, with the consultation statement, Basic Conditions Statement and Badby SEA & HRA screening final report.

April–May: Daventry District Council consulted for 6 weeks with official bodies and all those who made representations to the Draft Plan. The consultation period ran from 11 April to 25 May.

July: DDC and Badby Parish Council appointed an Independent Examiner to examine the Neighbourhood Plan. The Independent Examiner considers whether the plan meets the basic conditions of the legislation and also any outstanding objections. The Independent Examiner can recommend that the plan proceeds direct to a Referendum (i.e. it meets all the legal requirements) or may suggest that modifications are needed to the plan before it proceeds to referendum or that it should not proceed to referendum.

August: The Examiner gave Badby Parish Council as the qualifying body the opportunity to respond to the representations received to the Regulation 16 consultation.

September: During the course of the examination the Examiner asked a number of questions of clarification.

October: The Examiner issued her report on 11 October 2018, recommending that the plan could proceed to Referendum, subject to modifications.

November: DDC Planning Strategy Group agreed to recommend to the full Council that the Badby Neighbourhood Plan go forward to referendum on 24 January as approved by the Examiner and DDC to amend its DDLP Part 2 to accord with BPNP.

December: At its meeting of Council on 6th December 2018 Daventry District Council agreed that the Badby Parish Neighbourhood Plan, as modified by the Examiner’s recommendations, should proceed to referendum.

2019

Stage 6: Referendum

January: The Referendum took place on Thursday 24 January 2019. A straight majority vote (50% of turnout +1) of those on the Electoral Register who vote in the referendum is required before the District Council can ‘make’ the plan. The question asked was ‘Do you want Daventry District Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan For Badby to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?’ The declaration of results was: 90.2% voted Yes and 9.3% voted No. There was a 43.1% turnout.

Stage 7: Neighbourhood Plan complete

January: Following the successful referendum result, the Neighbourhood Plan for Badby was ‘made’, thus becoming a material planning document and part of the Development Plan for Daventry District Council.

Below are the documents relating to the development and approval of Badby’s Neighbourhood Plan. They include drafts, meeting minutes, consultation and display materials, etc. They are grouped in chronological order, starting with a four-digit number showing the year and month they were produced (e.g. 1803 = March 2018)

Amended 8 April 2021

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