Walton neighbourhood plan

Name of neighbourhood area

Walton Neighbourhood Area

Relevant body who applied for the designation

Walton Parish Council

Date of designation

17 January 2013

Date of submission

30 March 2015

Date of examiner's report

20 August 2015

Date of decision statement

15 October 2015

Date of decision statement

3 December 2015

Date made by Wakefield Council

13 April 2016

Walton Neighbourhood Development Plan was formally adopted (made) by Wakefield Council on 13 April 2016. The Plan forms part of the district's Development Plan and will be taken into consideration when determining planning applications within the parish of Walton.

In accordance with section 38A (9) and (10) Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (as amended) and Regulations 19 and 20 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 (as amended) the Council has published a Decision Statement which sets out its reasons for the decision, which are:

In accordance with section 38A (4) Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 the Council is legally obliged to make the Plan as it has been through a successful referendum and does not breach, or would otherwise be incompatible with, any EU obligation or any of the Convention rights (within the meaning of the Human Rights Act 1998).

Referendum

The referendum on the Walton Neighbourhood Plan was held on 3 December 2015 and there was a resounding yes by the voters to use the plan. There was 34.11 per cent turnout with 95.39 per cent of people (849) voting yes.

Details of the referendum.

Examination of the Plan

The Walton Neighbourhood Plan Proposal was examined by an independent examiner, Mr Paul McCreery, B.SC., M. Phil, FRTPI.
The Examiner's Report sets out the findings of the examination.

After considering the examiner's report the Council published a Decision Statement and the reasons for the decision, which was agreed at the Planning and Highways Committee on 3 September. Details of where and when the decision statement could be inspected were set out in the public notice.

The examiner's report recommended that, once modified to meet relevant legal requirements, the plan should proceed to a referendum. The examiner also considered the extent of the referendum area and concluded that it be the same as the approved neighbourhood area.

Publication of Walton Neighbourhood Plan Submission Draft

Walton Parish Council prepared a draft neighbourhood development plan and between 15 October and 26 November 2014 invited local communities to make comments on it.

After considering all the comments made, the Parish Council amended the plan, as appropriate, and in March 2015 submitted the Submission Draft plan to the Council to start the formal process of a public examination by an independent examiner.

Should this result in a satisfactory examination a referendum would be held, and the local community would have an opportunity to vote on whether they thought it was the right plan for their area.

For six weeks commencing on Thursday 4 June until Wednesday 15 July 2015 we asked for comments on the Submission Draft plan and supporting documents.

The supporting documents were:

A number of reports were also prepared and used as part of the evidence base for the plan:

Designation as a Neighbourhood Area

The application, by Walton Parish Council, was submitted to the Council in October 2012 and published for public comment between 8 November and 19 December 2012.

The Statement of Consultation provided details of everyone consulted, and the various methods used to notify relevant people of the application and informed them how they could make comments. Six comments were received, none objecting to the proposed boundary or the appropriateness of the area being designated a neighbourhood area.

The Walton Neighbourhood Area was designated by the Council on 17 January 2013 and published for information.

The preparation of the plan was the responsibility of Walton Parish Council.