July 23, 2020

A formal decision has now been issued by Chichester District Council following a meeting on the 7th July 2020. 

The Neighbourhood Plan is now able to move forward to a referendum but in accordance with current Government advice, this will not be held until 6 May 2021 (in accordance with Regulation 13 of the Postponement of Elections and Referendum Regulations 2020). However, Government guidance is that the plan may carry significant weight where relevant to a planning application, even though it would not have been tested through a referendum.

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May 12, 2020

We have been informed that no referenda for Neighbourhood Plans will be held before May 2021.

As our Plan has gone through all the necessary stages leading up to this it does have weight in planning law and in the interim period can be considered as made.

The Planning authorities and the Parish Council should, therefore, consider the Plan and its’ Policies in making decisions. 

I hope that you all stay safe during this crisis and will report back as soon as there are any future developments.

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February 14, 2020

At last, I am pleased to report that our draft Plan, after nearly two years of delays, has passed an examination by the independent examiner. We can now move to the next stage and a referendum in the spring. The examiner also took the opportunity in his report to thank and commend all those involved in its preparation.

The examiner's comments were mainly based on technical and a planning regulations check, so our proposed draft Plan will proceed largely unscathed. 

This Neighbourhood Plan will in future be an important document when councillors and officers are considering planning applications in the Parish to conserve our environment. It also contains Policies which should be taking account of by the authorities and gives information about the aspirations of the residents.

The next stage is for the team to incorporate these comments into our Plan and to update slightly, due to the time that has elapsed since we prepared the document. This will be completed in the next week.

Assuming this amended Plan is approved by Chichester CDC, you, the residents of Boxgrove and its’ villages of Halnaker, Crockerhill and Strettington will be asked the following question at the referendum;

“Do you want Chichester District Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan to help it decide Planning applications in the neighbourhood area.”

If a majority vote to “yes”, it will be adopted.

The Parish is planning an Open Event to be held on 14 March 2020 in the Boxgrove Village Hall. Details of the Plan and Policies will be displayed and there will be members of the team available to answer questions. I would encourage all who can, to attend this important event.

More details about this will be published shortly.

I would personally like to thank the members of the team for their hard work and resilience which has been necessary to reach this stage. 

David Leah 

Chair, Boxgrove Neighbourhood Plan Team                        

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January 06, 2020

Since my last update in we have now received a further response from CDC about the continuing delays in their response to our Neighbourhood Plan submission.

Below is a summary of the reply :

‘we hope to be in a position where we can submit the Boxgrove documents to the examiner by Christmas. At this stage we cannot provide specific details on the timings of subsequent stages. The next stage will be for the draft examiner’s report to be sent to us and the Parish Council for fact-checking. Depending on the content of the examiner’s report we then anticipate drafting and agreeing the decision statement and subsequently moving to referendum during the first half of next year.

As you are no doubt also aware, we continue to experience resource issues and I am afraid that it has been necessary to prioritise work on the Local Plan Review at various times this year. We are, however, attempting to progress all the various streams of work as best we can.

I hope this provides you with some reassurance that we anticipate the plan progressing positively towards a conclusion over the next few months.’

In a separate development because of the delays Boxgrove has suffered over the past 5 years, Chichester’s own plan is now having its planned 5 year review as mentioned above. We are being warned by CDC that our housing numbers could be increased if their plan review is deemed insufficient by the inspector or The Secretary of State.

David Leah 

Chair, Boxgrove Neighbourhood Plan Team 

6 January 2020  

November 13, 2019

Since my last update in June, I am afraid there has been very little to report about the progress of our plan. We still do not have a timetable from CDC about the next stages.

It is now almost 2 years since we had any input into the plan. The period since has been taken up by various consultations that they have been undertaking.

The assigned Examiner of our plan has now lost patience after waiting over 12 months since his last input and has now officially complained about their lack of action.

Our clerk has also written to the senior officers and relevant members at CDC again to protest. As soon as we get any information I will report back.

The Boxgrove Neighbourhood Plan can be viewed on the dedicated website

https://www.boxgrovenp.co.uk/

David Leah 

Chair, Boxgrove Neighbourhood Plan Team 

15 November 2019