A summary document detailing the implications of a Neighbourhood Plan and the progress of the Lichfield City Neighbourhood Plan is available to download.
The full Lichfield City Neighbourhood Plan (Referendum Version) can also be viewed and downloaded.
Background and Development of the Lichfield City Neighbourhood Plan
Neighbourhood planning was introduced by the Government as part of its Localism agenda and is a new way for communities to decide the future of the places where they live and work, in general conformity with the strategic policies in the Local Plan.
Lichfield District Council, as the Local Planning Authority, designated the Lichfield City Neighbourhood Area in late 2013. This enabled the City Council to commence the process of preparing the Neighbourhood Plan, and it decided to focus the Plan on employment and economic development themes with the aim of effecting genuine economic change over the Plan period to 2029. The principal aim of the Neighbourhood Plan is to increase the number of employment opportunities in the City.
The process of producing a Neighbourhood Plan is in several stages, evidence gathering and community engagement were essential to inform the Draft Neighbourhood Plan.
Pre-Submission Consultation (Regulation 14) July - September 2016
Lichfield City Council undertook Pre-Submission Consultation on the Lichfield City Draft Neighbourhood Plan between 15 July and 9 September 2016. 21 responses were received. Several constructive comments were received and various details of the Draft Plan were amended. The revised Neighbourhood Plan was submitted for further informal consultation in February 2017 as a number of important documents that could impact on the Neighbourhood Plan were being prepared by Lichfield District Council and their consultants at the time.
A response to this submission was received in March 2017 and revisions to the Neighbourhood Plan were agreed to ensure it reflected the emerging and most recently published evidence. The City Council then submitted the revised draft Neighbourhood Plan to Lichfield District Council for formal consultation and independent examination. As part of this process a suite of documents was submitted, including;
Some of the documents used to inform the draft Neighbourhood Plan include;
In December 2017 the Cabinet of Lichfield District Council resolved that the Neighbourhood Plan (as amended) should proceed to the referendum stage; the date for the referendum being 22 February 2018. At the Referendum, majority support for the Neighbourhood Plan was achieved, and as a result it was subsequently adopted by Lichfield District Council.
Next Steps Following Adoption
Following adoption, the Lichfield City Neighbourhood Plan (LCNP) became part of the formal development plan for the area, with legal force, helping to shape the direction of future employment development within the City.
The City Council established a small working party to oversee the next stages of the Neighbourhood Plan - the Neighbourhood Plan Implementation Working Party (NPIWP). The objectives of the NPIWP include ensuring CIL is correctly applied for and received and consulting and engaging with the community in regard to the LCNP and its implementation.
One of the other key objectives of the NPIWP is to make recommendations to Council on allocations of the Parish proportion of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL).
Briefly, CIL is a levy that local authorities can choose to charge on most new built development in their area in order to raise funding to carry out infrastructure projects. Lichfield District Council is the CIL 'Charging Authority' and therefore retains the majority of CIL receipts, but as a Parish Council with an adopted Neighbourhood Plan, the City Council receives 25% of the CIL allocation within its boundaries.
To date the NPIWP has overseen the allocation of more than £70,000 of CIL monies on projects including new City Centre information boards, Community centre improvements, replacement pathway lighting, and contributions to local infrastructure causes such as the Lichfield and Hatherton Canal Restoration Trust and Sandfields Pumping Station.
The City Council is required to report all CIL spends to the Charging Authority (Lichfield District Council) each year through a prescribed form. This Reporting Statement can be found on the Transparency page of the City Council's website.
If you have any suggestions for CIL allocations that you would like the Working Party to consider, please contact us.