Lymington Society Calls Public Meetings Over Neighbourhood Plan Consultation

7.00 PM – Monday the 23^rd of September – The Baptist Church – New Street – Lymington.

The Lymington Society has announced that they are holding a Public Meeting to allow their 350 members and the wider community, to comment on the Lymington and Pennington Town Council Draft Neighbourhood Plan, which is now out for consultation for eight weeks, ending on the 9th of October.

The Draft Neighbourhood Plan can be seen here

We are very grateful to Town Mayor Jack Davies who will be attending the meeting and who will be making a presentation on the Draft Neighbourhood Plan.

The Lymington Society has been urging the Town Council to prepare a Neighbourhood Plan since the introduction of the Localism Act in 2011, gave communities the opportunity to become more involved in the planning process and to bring forward recommendations on the types of development that they wish to see in their community, and where they were prepared to accept more homes being built.

In exchange for agreeing to a Neighbourhood Plan, communities benefit from receiving a larger share of the Community Structure Levy, (CIL) paid by developers when they bring forward developments. Communities such as Lymington and Pennington currently receive only 15% of the CIL funds for developments in their area but will receive 25% of such funds once a Neighbourhood Plan has been agreed through a referendum.

The Neighbourhood Plan process is the first time that smaller communities, such as Lymington and Pennington have been able to make their views known and to directly influence the planning process in their community, and this represents a big opportunity for the town to make a real difference in planning and for other improvements that the town wishes to implement for the future.

Speaking about the announcement of a Public Meeting, Don Mackenzie – Chair of the Lymington Society said:

“The Society strongly supports the Town Council in their wish to see the Lymington and Pennington Neighbourhood Plan accepted at a referendum and for the Council to able to receive an enhanced proportion of the Community Infrastructure Levy which can then be spent on local projects to improve the town.

However, we do wish to ensure that Society Members and the wider community should have the opportunity to make their views know and have therefore organised a Public Meeting to enable people to express their views on what the council is proposing in the Draft Neighbourhood Plan.

Following the Public Meeting, the Society will be better informed as to the views of local people and better able to make representation to the Council as to changes that need to be incorporated into the Draft Plan.

The Public Meeting will be held on the 23^rd of September at 7.00 PM at the Baptist Church in New Street, and anyone interested in the future of the town is invited to attend. There is no charge for attending this meeting. Please do come along and hear what is proposed for the future of your town and help to make sure that your views are properly represented.