The Timescale
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Update on the Ketton and Tinwell Joint Neighbourhood Plan timescale
As you will see if you look at the earlier post on this website, by this stage in the process we were
hoping to have a draft Plan ready for the community's comments. Unfortunately, our timescale was
somewhat derailed by the protracted process in the development of the Rutland Local Plan.
The revised Rutland Local Plan had been scheduled for publication in 2019. That process was
delayed significantly by considerations about major development proposals in the county. As our
Neighbourhood Plan needs to reflect the policies put forward in the Local Plan, the Steering Group
felt that it would be unwise to proceed before we knew exactly what the Local Plan was likely to say.
This was particularly important in view of the housing allocations to be set by the Local Plan, in
particular for Ketton, which were not clear until the revised Local Plan was available to the public. At
the time of writing the revised Local Plan has just gone out to public consultation.
This revised draft Local Plan, even though it is not yet made, means that we are now able to
proceed with the drafting of our Joint Neighbourhood Plan. As you will know, a Neighbourhood Plan
is based on the views of the community. We had our first round of major consultation in public
events in March 2019, and in the spring of this year we delivered a Survey to every home in the two
parishes. Thanks to all who attended those events and responded to this Survey; the views
expressed will be reflected as we begin drafting the policies for the Joint Neighbourhood Plan.
But what does this mean for the timetable? Given the amount of work that is required to produce a
Neighbourhood Plan, and ensure we have the right evidence base to support our conclusions, we
hope that we will now be ready to discuss our draft Plan with Rutland County Council in the spring of
2021. Once that is done, this draft Plan will be issued for consultation to all residents in the two
parishes, together with our statutory consultees.
If we can continue on this new timescale, this should mean that the Plan will be scrutinised by an
Independent Examiner in early 2022, with the Referendum in the two parishes to be held hopefully
by early 2023.
A Neighbourhood Plan provides an important set of additional requirements in local development
policy, and the Ketton and Tinwell Joint Neighbourhood Plan will sit alongside the Rutland Local Plan,
and will have the same legal weight. It is therefore important for our community to have a
Neighbourhood Plan in place. So it might seem frustrating that the timescale for this appears very
slow.
However the production of a Neighbourhood plan is a statutory process, with set requirements for
each step, and this means that it is not a timetable which can be accelerate to any great degree.
Please be assured that the Steering Group members who are putting together this Joint
Neighbourhood Plan, all of whom are volunteers, are working as hard as possible in the
circumstances.
The Joint Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group
September 2020
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After public consultation, an application to create a Joint Neighbourhood Plan for Ketton and Tinwell parishes has been submitted to Rutland County Council. Planning and development in Rutland – as in the rest of the UK - is governed by a Local Plan devised by the Local Authority. Working within the parameters of the Local Plan, a Neighbourhood Plan puts in place planning policy for a neighbourhood area to guide future development.
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The views of the local community are essential to the Neighbourhood Plan. So the first thing the Steering Group needs to do is get in touch with everyone, to give residents more information about how a Neighbourhood Plan is put together. We are starting the consultation process with a leaflet delivered to each household and business. We will also be meeting people via community group events and other meetings.
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At the end of March, we will be holding three drop-in events, at both villages. Here, we'll set out the communities' ideas so far, and will ask for your views about how the Plan should proceed. We look forward to seeing you there, and hearing your ideas!
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We will be consulting people throughout, and at the very end there will be a local Referendum, so all residents can say whether they agree with the final Plan. If more than 50% of those voting are in favour it will be formally 'made', and will become part of the planning process for our communities. It will then be used in determining planning applications as part of the statutory development plan for the parishes.
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