Voters across Penrith will head to the polls on Thursday to decide the future of the Penrith Neighbourhood Plan, which has taken over seven years to reach the referendum stage and reportedly cost more than £100,000 to develop, will see voters asked a single question In Thursdays referendum “Do you want Westmorland and Furness Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Penrith to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area with a simple Yes or No ballot choice.”
The town council started the development of the Neighbourhood plan in 2016 when the former Eden District Council approved the neighbourhood plan area designation.
Few plan has faced scrutiny and controversy including the Independent Planning inspector insisting full sections of the plan be removed before it could proceed to a referendum, the town council objected to the removal of the sections and Westmorland and Furness Council has accepted and retained the policy sections in the plan that voters will decide the fate of in Thursdays referendum.
Orginal plans to include the protection of Penrith Beacon from development but this protection has been dropped from the Neighbourhood plan, with Friends of The Lake District also recently updating their statements on the neighbourhood plan that had originally heavily pushed that the neighbourhood plan would “protect the beacon”.
The Friends of The Lake District last week updated their published details removing all references to Penrith Beacon getting any protected by the plan.
The town council has held a series of information sessions to promote its plan and why voters should vote to support the plan. Some of the questions and answers given by the council included:
Why do we need a Neighbourhood Plan?
The town council said A Neighbourhood Development Plan is important as local authorities who have adopted Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) must allocate the neighbourhood portion generated by new developments to spend on infrastructure or anything else that that addresses the demands of new development in an area. This can include things like play areas, open space, arts and culture. With an adopted NDP, 25% of the levy collected is paid directly to parishes. Westmorland and Furness has not adopted CIL across the whole of its area as yet however it is adopted in the old South Lakeland DC area. We would hope that the new authority would adopt this across the whole area.
Who was involved in the production of the NDP?
The town council said The group included some town councillors along with representatives of local organisations. They freely gave their time and expertise to develop the document. The group included representatives from: Cumbria Action for Sustainability (CAfS) Penrith Action for Community Transition (PACT) Both secondary schools in Penrith Newton Rigg as part of Askham Bryan College Penrith Chamber of Trade Penrith BID Cumbria Youth Alliance Churches Together Eden arts organisations (such as Eden Arts and EVAN) Penrith Industrial BID was not in existence when the document was drawn up. A Planning Consultant provided technical advice.
Were residents and businesses involved?
The town council said Yes, all the way through. The Town Council held initial public consultations to find out the views of
The town council said Yes, all the way through. The Town Council held initial public consultations to find out the views of the public and businesses before starting work on the plan then further informal public consultations whilst drawing up the plan to make sure we were still reflecting what people wished to see.
A copy of the proposed policies during the consultation were also sent to every household and business in Penrith with a prepaid envelope.
The No Campaign
The Neighbourhood Plan has also seen a No vote campaign with local Group Evolve Penrith calling for voters to not accept the plan in Thursday’s Referendum.
The group has said that the plan is outdated given the long time it has taken to develop and is not a plan that will benefit Penrith.
Evolve Penrith as the official No Campaign claims the plan fails to address housing needs and allocations of areas and will likely see a return of the Penrith Masterplan or in the near future for Penrith as a result. Evolve Penrith has also said that many people have had no part in the creation of the neighbourhood plan despite claims by the council it involved everyone.
They have also said that people have told them they have no idea what the plan is for or will mean for Penrith. The group has also challenged what it says are false claims by the town council regarding the financial gains from having a plan as Westmorland and Furness Council has confirmed that a CiL will not be introduced in the area until after the new Westmorland and Furness Council Local Plan is approved and this could mean and expansion of the CiL will be at least 2028 or potentially 2030 if at all.
The group has said that Penrith does need a plan but a plan that is created by and involves everyone and looks to the future not a plan stuck in the past and taken seven years to create.
A spokes person for Evolve Penrith said on Wednesday “ What ever people’s thoughts and views however they vote we are encouraging everyone to use their vote.” “Our only question for voters is have you had any say in this plans creation and do you understand what it will mean for Penrith? If No the don’t just ignore it make your views known and vote No don’t let a few people decide the future of a Penrith for you.”
Polling stations across Penrith open from 7am and close at 10pm. Votes will be counted following the closing of the polls and results are expected early Friday morning.
We will bring you the referendum results as they are announced on Friday.
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