The Localism Act will introduce new powers that give local communities the power to influence development in their area and to develop permitted development rights for certain types of development in their area through a neighbourhood development orders.
Cost is one concern that has been consistently raised by local authorities in regard to implementing a neighbourhood plan. Cringleford Parish Council, a neighbourhood planning frontrunner, has estimated that cost of developing such a plan could vary from between £19,000 to £45,000. It added that the additional costs of legal challenge could be measured in tens of thousands of pounds, and there is also uncertainty over who would be liable in such circumstances.
The Government said that it will provide £50 million until March 2014 to support local councils in making neighbourhood planning a success to deal with the cost issue.
In April the Government announced that it had chosen four organisations to share a £3.2 million fund to provide assistance to local community groups in developing neighbourhood plans. The expert planning groups chosen are Locality, Planning Aid (part of the Royal Town Planning Institute), the Campaign to Protect Rural England and the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment.
"This event demonstrated the real enthusiasm around the country for neighbourhood planning. People are genuinely eager to learn how to shape development in their area and bring about the homes, jobs and shops they want," said Decentralisation Minister Greg Clark.
"We've already got 126 communities trialling powers and have had many more communities telling us they are eager to grasp this opportunity to make their own decisions on planning.
There's a real appetite to bring forward sustainable development from people who for too long have been shut out of the planning process with no real voice," said Clark.
