Why do we need a Neighbourhood Plan?
Residents' Control & Influence
A Neighbourhood Plan gives residents the opportunity to have a say in how the nieghbourhood develops, ensuring future development aligns with community needs and aspirations.
Planning & Development Guidance
The Plan sets out policies on multiple aspects including housing, infrastructure, green spaces, transportation and more. It can influence the type, design and location of developments promoting sustainable growth while protecting valued aspects of the village.
Legal Weight
Once adopted, a Neighbourhood Plan becomes legally binding. Local planning authorities must consider the Plan when making decisions. This carries more weight than other community-led initiatives.
Newborough & Borough Fen Parish boundary
The Parish Council submitted to PCC an application to designate the neighbourhood area
This formalises the area for which a Neighbourhood Plan may be made. Clicking on the image will open the full pdf of the Parish boundary.
Summary Update
Current Activities
The Steering Group is progressing with a Draft Plan. This will reflect Community insights which were gathered as part of the initial engagement. The Survey report is here and on the Reports page. A Summary of the main findings is here.
The Draft Plan will also accommodate national policies and findings from the technical reports.
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Next Steps
Once the Draft Plan is ready, it will be shared with the community. The exact mechanism has not yet been decided, it is likely to be either a drop-in session or meeting at the Village Hall. This is estimated to be Jan/Feb 2026.
Residents will be asked to comment on each policy area of the Draft Plan. These comments will be considered and accommodated where possible within the final Plan. Alongside this, other stakeholders will also review the Draft Plan.
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Once the Draft has been finalised, it will be formally submitted to the Local Authority. This happens roughly 1 month after the end of the consultation mentioned above.
The Local Authority then has a set of steps (including a community referendum) before the Final Plan is accepted.
Background
The Steering Group, with the support of our specialist planning Consultant - Collective Community Planning, has been moving steadily through this project.
Funding - available only for the purpose of creating Neighbourhood Plans - has been secured.​
Initial consultation with the Parish residents has taken place.
Reports have been sourced and published on the Reports page of this website.
A Call for Sites has been conducted and the applicants have been contacted directly with the results of the assessments. All of the sites submitted were rejected due to National Planning Policy reasons.
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The timelines for the Peterborough Local Plan have shifted to the right, and the deadlines for the public consultation phase has now passed. Local Plan Review: Draft Local Plan | Peterborough City Council
The National Planning Policy Framework was updated in late 2024 and that also informs our decision-making.
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Information will continue to be made available on this website, on the Facebook Group page and the Parish Council website.
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