CORNWALL Council’s chief executive has been asked to ‘give encouragement’ to local town and parish councils going through the Neighbourhood Planning process.

At the Launceston Community Network Panel meeting on September 20, Cllr Martin Howlett of Stoke Climsland Parish Council, which is in the process of developing a Neighbourhood Plan, raised his concerns.

He said: “We constantly keep hearing when these [Neighbourhood Plans] have gone through the referendum they are being challenged.”

The council says in Cornwall, planning policies which apply to the whole of the county are going to be reduced to the bare minimum to simplify the planning process and enable it to efficiently deliver the types of development required by communities. That means there will be relatively little planning guidance at the parish level.

At local level, the council suggests communities may wish to develop their own planning policies to reflect the priorities of local people and to provide an additional level of detail than those developed by Cornwall Council.

In Crantock, Cornwall Council recently approved contentious plans for 22 houses, which locals say go against their formally approved Neighbourhood Development Plan document.

Cllr Howlett issued a plea to the chief executive of Cornwall Council Kate Kennally and elected members to give them encouragement to continue the Neighbourhood Planning process.

Ms Kennally said: “Cornwall Council is really committed to Neighbourhood Plans, we have got some of the largest number of Neighbourhood Plans in development across the country. We have got over 80 plans going through the process at the moment. There’s absolutely the support there.

“With the introduction of the Community Infrastructure Levy, if you have got a Neighbourhood Development Plan in you do get to retain a greater percentage of that. We really do strongly encourage going through the Neighbourhood Development Planning process.”

Cllr Joan Heaton of St Stephens by Launceston Rural Parish Council, where residents are also putting together their own Neighbourhood Plan, said: “We were very concerned about Crantock,” but said in their case the ‘rural extension site does comply with the Neighbourhood Plan’. She added: “Our Neighbourhood Planning expert explained that to us today.”

Chair of the network panel Cllr Neil Burden, Cornwall Council ward member for Stoke Climsland, said: “I think the Crantock thing has stirred the public. Our planners need to be vey cognisant we don’t want Neighbourhood Plans shoved into the long grass at this very early stage.”