Plan 2017

The consultation on the draft Plan as now closed. However, the Plan is still available for viewing as downloadable pdf files or on the web

We thank everyone who has sent in a response.

The next stage for the Plan is as follows:

• to collate the responses and place them in the public domain
• to analyse the responses and to amend the draft plan as applicable
• to place the results of this process into the public domain

Status of the Draft Plan and Further Stages

A ‘neighbourhood plan’ is a statutory planning document. Its role is to set out policies related to the development and use of land in the whole, or a particular part, of Our Neighbourhood. These are identified as ‘Planning Policies and Proposals for Land Use’. These planning policies have been developed  to address the concerns of local people identified in the various surveys carried out by the Durham City Neighbourhood Planning Forum and in feedback received. If the Plan is adopted, these planning policies will have to be taken into account when deciding on planning applications.

The Neighbourhood Plan also includes wider community issues than those directly related to the use and development of land. These are identified as ‘Projects to Improve the Economic, Social and Environmental Realm’.

The stages the Plan has still to go through comprise:

• submission to Durham County Council and further consultation
• independent examination;
• public referendum

Sustainability Appraisal/Strategic Environmental Assessment Report

The Forum has prepared a Scoping Report and a Sustainability Appraisal Report for the draft Durham City Neighbourhood Plan. The Scoping Report and the Sustainability Appraisal Report together comprise an assessment of the environmental, social and economic impacts of the Neighbourhood Plan. A copy of both reports and the circumstances that led to the Forum preparing them are explained here.