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
June community meeting CANCELLED
​​In April the Steering Group advertised a community meeting (28th June) to discuss possible site allocation as part of the Neighbourhood Plan. Following further discussions with various stakeholders, and a meeting with the City Council concerning the new Local Plan, it has been decided to cancel this meeting. The Steering Group no longer proposes to allocate any sites within the Neighbourhood Plan. This is not unusual, most Neighbourhood Plans do not allocate specific sites. This does not prevent development from happening.
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​The sites that were proposed have been rejected due to significant planning constraints, particularly:
- Flood risk.
- Lack of access or infrastructure.
- Conflict with national and local policy regulations.
- Protracted timeline - one of the sites is at least 10 years away. A Neighbourhood Plan lasts for 5 years.
- Community insights 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. Generally, the community supports small-scale development, and is opposed to large-scale developments. The meeting was originally planned to get residents' views on the possible allocation of two very large sites - due to the financial benefits that only large developments bring (CIL) - which would support infrastructure improvements. However, both sites conflict with national planning policy and have been rejected by PCC. Also, one of the sites is at least 10 years away from Planning Application stage.
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Next Steps
The Steering Group will now proceed to develop the draft Plan with associated policies. Once that is ready for consultation, a community meeting at the Village Hall will be arranged and advertised. Currently, we expect this to be Autumn/Winter 2025.
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.
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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
We have also received the revised National Planning Policy Framework which will inform 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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The Steering Group needs more volunteers to help share the work and to act as a voice for the villagers. Experience is not required, however you will need to be a Newborough/Borough Fen resident and maintain an objective perspective. For more information on what's involved with Group membership, see the Steering Group page.