Asfordby Parish Neighbourhood Plan 2011-2036

The Government wants local communities to have genuine opportunities to influence the future of the places where they live. The 2011 Localism Act introduced a new right for communities to draw up a Neighbourhood Plan.
The Asfordby Parish Neighbourhood Plan will allow people, who live, work and have a business in the Parish to have a say where they think new houses, businesses and shops should be located and what they should look like. A Neighbourhood Plan can also identify and protect important Local Green Spaces, conserve local heritage and protect areas of nature conservation interest. The Asfordby Parish Neighbourhood Plan will be a statutory plan which means that once it has been finalised, it will be used to determine planning applications in the Parish.

The report setting out the findings of the independent examination of the Asfordby Neighbourhood Development Plan 2011-2036 has been published. Subject to a series of recommended modifications, the report concludes that the Asfordby Neighbourhood Development Plan meets all the necessary legal requirements and should proceed to referendum.

On 4 August 2022, Asfordby Parish Council approved the Draft Asfordby Parish Neighbourhood Plan for submission to Melton Borough Council in accordance with Regulation 15 of the Neighbourhood Planning General Regulations 2012 (as amended). The Draft Neighbourhood Plan was submitted to Melton Borough Council along with a Basic Conditions Statement and Consultation Statement.

Under Regulation 16 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012, Melton Borough Council will undertake a further six-week public consultation before it is sent to an Independent Examiner.

Asfordby parish was designated as a Neighbourhood Area on 30 January 2013. The body responsible for preparing the Neighbourhood Plan (Qualifying Body) is Asfordby Parish Council.

The first version of the Asfordby Parish Neighbourhood Plan was published for consultation in February 2015 and a summary of the plan was delivered to all households in the parish. Many representations were received and as a result the Parish Council decided to make changes.
The Parish Council consulted local people and key stakeholders on a second version of the Neighbourhood Plan over the period Monday 22 February to Monday 4 April 2016. Again, a summary of the plan was delivered to all households in the parish.
The comments received were used to amend the draft Neighbourhood Plan which was then submitted to Melton Borough Council in October 2016 for publication. The Draft Plan was then sent to an Independent Examiner in February 2017. On 5 June 2017, the Examiner recommend that the Neighbourhood Plan be modified to meet the 'Basic Conditions' and then submitted to a referendum. The Neighbourhood Plan was passed by referendum on 28 September 2017.
On 22 October 2017, Jelson applied to bring proceedings for Judicial Review. The claim was submitted on the grounds that the Borough Council and the Examiner engaged in an unlawful process where further evidence and submissions were received following the publishing of the First Report of the Examiner for 'fact-checking'.
The Borough Council agreed with Jelson's Claim and, on 5 February 2018, the High Court issued an Order (below) confirming that the Claim had been allowed and as a result the Neighbourhood Plan was quashed. On 8 March 2018, Asfordby Parish Council agreed to withdraw the Neighbourhood Plan.

The Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 require neighbourhood planning groups and local planning authorities to undertake publicity in a manner that is likely to bring it to the attention of people who live, work or carry on business in the neighbourhood area at particular stages of the process. Below are some details of the steps we have taken to engage the community and others in shaping the development of the Asfordby Neighbourhood Plan.

A workshop for parish councillors and key stakeholder was held on 29 May 2012 to look at the principle issues that the Neighbourhood Plan will need to address.

At the Big Jubilee Lunch on 3 June 2012, local residents had an opportunity to find out a bit more about the Asfordby Parish Neighbourhood Plan and to give their views on plans for the future.

25 children age 10 and 11 (year 6) from Asfordby Hill Primary School participated in a session on 17 May 2012. The children provided some good, thoughtful responses about living in and around Asfordby.

On 12 July 2012, 31 year 6 pupils from Captains Close Primary School offered detailed insights into what they thought of Asfordby.

With the support of Leicestershire County Council's Youth Team, we talked to young people in Asfordby during July and August 2013 about the emerging Neighbourhood Plan and to find out what young people thought about living in Asfordby.

In August 2014 we sent a questionnaire to all households inviting residents to set out their views on development in the parish.

Prior to the Plan being quashed, there had been a considerable amount of consultation on earlier versions of the Neighbourhood Plan. This included a referendum in September 2017 where on a turnout of 399 voters (15.36% of those allowed to vote), 334 voted in favour (83.71%) of the Plan and 64 against (16.04%).

Under Regulation 14 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012, a pre-submission consultation period of no less than six weeks on the new Neighbourhood Plan for Asfordby Parish ran to 1 April 2022.

A copy of the Pre-Submission Draft of the Plan was made available to download, along with supporting documentation, on the Parish Council's website.

A summary of the Pre-Submission Draft of the Plan was delivered to all premises within the Parish.

All representations and comments received have been considered by Asfordby Parish Council and used to amend the Pre-Submission Draft of the Plan.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was first published on 27 March 2012 and updated on 24 July 2018, 19 February 2019 and 20 July 2021. This sets out the Government's planning policies for England and how these are expected to be applied.

The planning practice guidance to support the framework is published online.

The relevant Development Plan for the area is the Melton Local Plan 2011-2036. The Melton Local Plan was adopted by Full Council on 10 October 2018. It sets out policies for the use and development of land across the whole of the Borough. It replaces the saved policies of the 1999 Melton Local Plan.

Over 70% of households that responded to our survey wanted to see the countryside between settlements protected. The Neighbourhood Plan identifies Areas of Separation between Asfordby Hill and Asfordby Valley; and Asfordby and Asfordby Valley.

The local landscape is characterised by four distinct areas described in the Melton Landscape Character Assessment.

A Green Infrastructure Strategy has been produced for Melton Borough in response for the need to plan for future growth.

National policy makes provision for local communities to identify green areas of importance to those communities, where development will not be permitted except in very special circumstances. The community has identified, for special protection, green spaces of local significance.

As part of the evidence base for the first Asfordby Parish Neighbourhood Plan, the Parish Council commissioned a study that looked at housing requirements, housing type/size mix, and the need for Affordable Housing.

The redevelopment of this brownfield site has been difficult to achieve. The site has been marketed for employment development for much of the last 20 years without success. The site remains undeveloped and has been subject to vandalism and anti-social behaviour.

A Viability and Marketing Report (2021) confirms that the site is incapable of supporting large-scale employment uses with the result that a more mixed-use form of development should be considered.