Registered voters in Brading will be able to vote on the proposed new neighbourhood development plan for the area at a special local referendum on Thursday 19th March.
Electors in the area have been sent a poll card notifying them of the referendum, which is the second to be staged on the Island since new regulations were introduced under the Localism Act 2011.
It is one of a series of such plans currently being developed across the Island. Altogether five areas requested neighbourhood plans – Bembridge and Brading, as well as Brighstone, Freshwater and Gurnard. Bembridge Neighbourhood Development Plan has already come into force, following majority support at a referendum in 2014.
If the Brading plan is approved by the majority of voters, it will come into force as soon as possible after the referendum.
A formal request must be made and a regulated process followed for the development of a neighbourhood plan. In the five areas which have gone through or are currently going through the process, requests were made by the relevant parish or town council.
The Brading Neighbourhood Development Plan (like the other neighbourhood plans) is a planning document designed to work alongside the National Planning Policy Framework and the Island Plan Core Strategy.
If approved, it will be used alongside the other two documents to help determine planning applications in the parish of Brading.
The Localism Act introduced the mechanism for local communities to produce neighbourhood plans. A significant amount of local consultation has already shaped the Brading plan – and there is a legal responsibility to proceed to a referendum once it is considered the plan meets basic conditions.
A six-week formal consultation on the proposed Brading plan took place between 19th September and 3rd November last year.
The document and representations were then considered by an independent examiner, who recommended the plan, with some modifications, goes to referendum. The modifications have also been discussed by planning officers and Brading Town Council.
The Isle of Wight Council can claim £20,000 in government grant payment for each neighbourhood plan, with the grant going towards the development, examination and referendum for a plan.
Details of the proposed Brading plan can be found on the council’s website at www.iwight.com/bradingndp
