Penzance Council has officially approved the current draft of the Penzance Neighbourhood Plan for the consultation process to start later this month.
At a full Penzance Council meeting held on Monday 10 October, Councillors voted to approve the current draft of the Plan so the consultation process can officially begin.
The current draft of the Plan has been in the making since 2015 and is based on extensive public consultation carried out between 2015 and 2019, both at public ‘EXPO’ events and at drop-in sessions within each community.
A Neighbourhood Plan is a way for communities to set out a vision for the future of their Parish, Town or Village to be embedded in Cornwall Council’s planning framework in the form of planning policies. Future developments that need planning permission would need to abide by those policies.
The Community Link Group, established in 2018, includes community representatives from across the Parish and has been fully involved in preparing the draft Plan. The Plan covers the entire Civil Parish of Penzance – both Penzance town itself and the other distinct communities with the Parish including Eastern Green, Gulval, Heamoor, Mousehole, Newlyn, and Paul. Following a pause during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Link Group resumed work on the Plan to produce the most up-to-date version of the draft.
The Plan sets out specific policy sections for Penzance and Newlyn and five general policy areas that would be applied to the entire Parish:
Development, Design & Heritage
Ensure future developments make a positive impact on the physical fabric of our town, villages and communities, respect what we already have and reflect the needs and aspirations of people living and working in the Parish.
Economy
Enable development which will help to grow the local economy through investment and in turn create new jobs with a fair wage.
Housing
Provide homes which are genuinely affordable relative to local incomes, and introduce policies to restrict the impact of second homes in key areas of the Parish.
Natural Environment & Green Infrastructure
Protect the environment, which is essential to our quality of life and well-being, and to the attractiveness of the Parish, and provide good-quality green infrastructure for people such as cycle routes, footpaths and green spaces.
Coastal Vulnerability
Support the designation of Coastal Change Management Areas to address the exposure of our coastline to the increased risk of flooding and storm damage caused by rising sea levels and climate change.
Community drop-in sessions will be held across the Parish so residents can find out more and talk with community representatives who helped to draft the Plan:
| Date | Location | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Monday 24th October | St John’s Hall, The Mayor’s Parlour | 3pm – 7pm |
| Thursday 27th October | The Pulse Venue (Royal British Legion), Bolitho Rd, Heamoor | 3pm – 7pm |
| Friday 28th October | Sainsbury’s Foyer, Eastern Green | 3pm – 7pm |
| Monday 31st October | Alverton School | 3:15pm – 7pm |
| Thursday 3rd November | The Centre, Newlyn | 3pm – 7pm |
| Monday 7th November | The Lescudjack Centre, Penmere Close, Treneere | 3pm – 7pm |
| Wednesday 9th November | Paul Village Hall | 3pm – 7pm |
| Thursday 10th November | Gulval Village Hall | 3pm – 7pm |
| Monday 14th November | Solomon Browne Memorial Hall, Mousehole | 3pm – 7pm |
A public EXPO event will also be held at St John’s Hall, Thursday 17 – 19 November where residents and businesses can find out more about the Plan alongside other projects planned for our area.
Information leaflets will be mailed out to every residential and business address in the Parish with a full list of the community drop-in events and how to access the Plan in the coming week.
“This plan is our legacy to future generations in our Parish. If we get it right it will ensure that much of what our generation values about where we live will still be there for future generations to enjoy, while also doing what we can to improve housing and real-wage jobs for local people” said Cllr Stephen Reynolds, Community Link Group Member and Ward Councillor for Heamoor and Gulval.
“The feedback we get from the community in this consultation will be invaluable in helping us get it right.”
It is important to remember this is not the final draft of the Plan – this next stage of public consultation will run from Monday 24 October to Friday 30 December 2022, and is known as the ‘Regulation 14 Pre-submission’ public consultation. Feedback from the public will be used to refine the Plan before it goes to Penzance Council for approval. The Plan will then be submitted to Cornwall Council, who will then organise an independent examination of the plan and a further public consultation.
Once all these steps have been completed, residents of the Parish who are registered to vote will have the chance to vote on whether or not to adopt the Plan in a public referendum.
People will be able to submit their views on the draft Plan from Monday 24 October in a number of ways including online, in person, or by post.