Jonathan Roberts, CEO Sharrow Community Forum
Who is Sharrow Community Forum?
Sharrow Community Forum is a community development organisation established in 1997, which works to strengthen communities in the Sharrow area of Sheffield.
We work with the local community to improve services, bring people together, build the community’s voice, and help to make the local community a better place to live.
Registered Charity number 1081829 Company Limited by Guarantee 3338021
What does Sharrow Community Forum do?
Our projects
What is a Neighbourhood Plan?
• A neighbourhood plan is a document that sets out planning policies for a local area.
• It’s used to decide whether to approve planning applications, including new buildings (e.g. community facilities) or changes to existing buildings (e.g. giving permission to change the upper floors of shops to flats).
• It’s written by the local community, the people who know and love the area, to ensure the community gets the right types of development, in the right place.
• It may deal with a wide range of social, economic and environmental issues (such as housing, employment, design, heritage and transport) or it may focus on one or two issues only
• Neighbourhood planning is supported by central government through the Localism Act.
Opportunities and Advantages
• Community-led: Neighbourhood plans are led by authorised local community organisations rather than the local council’s planning department. This means that community representatives lead the plan.
• Influence: If successful at referendum, a neighbourhood plan comes into force as part of the statutory development plan for the area alongside the local plan
https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/sheffieldplan .
• Relevance: Whilst the local plan covers the whole district, a neighbourhood plan is focused on the needs of the specific neighbourhood and allows the local community to specify what they expect from development.
• Establishing a dialogue: Those producing neighbourhood plans have to speak to a range of organisations, authorities, partners and stakeholders. This establishes a range of dialogues, which may not otherwise take place, and may potentially influence the activities of other local organisations.
Why would we like to see a Neighbourhood Plan realised for our area?
Empower our community and local residents
Ensure services are meeting the needs of our community
Build upon community development work already done
Develop a sustainable vision for Sharrow and Nether Edge
Future-proof facilities
Ensure community spaces are retained for community use
What steps are needed to realise a Neighbourhood Plan?
Stage 1 – Getting established
• Designation of the neighbourhood area • Designation of the neighbourhood forum (in unparished areas only) • Building an evidence base • Publicity and engagement
Stage 2 – Preparing the plan
• Drafting the plan • Meeting the basic conditions • Pre-submission consultation
Stage 3 – Bringing the plan into force
• Submission • Publicity • Independent examination • Referendum
Resources and Support
What support is available?
• Locality provides support to neighbourhood planning groups on behalf of the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
• There are two types of support available:
• Grant (financial support) – up to £10k available
• Technical Support (professional assistance and advice)
• Eligibility criteria differs from previous neighbourhood planning support programmes so it is essential that you check what you are eligible for.
Preliminary Discussions with Integreat Plus
Alison and SCF met with Integreat plus in 2019 : Richard Motley and Jamie Wilde
They are:
• A not for profit social enterprise consultancy based in Sheffield
• Offer technical services including Neighbourhood Planning advice
• Keen to support a Sheffield-based Neighbourhood Plan
What happens now?
We will also be presenting the concept of Neighbourhood Planning to the next Abbeydale and Sharrow Stakeholder Group where we will be inviting people to register their interest with us if they would like to be involved.
If you would like to be involved in the Neighbourhood Planning initiative for the Sharrow and Nether Edge area please register your interest with Sharrow Community Forum by emailing jonathan@sharrowcf.org.uk