Bentley Neighbourhood Plan

The Bentley Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) has been prepared by the Parish Council and local community and will be used to help guide and shape future development in the parish.

Reg 20 Formal adoption (12 December 2022)

In an ‘out of meeting’ decision taken on Monday 12 December 2022 Babergh District Council agreed to adopt ('make') the Bentley NDP.

This NDP, which covers the plan period to 2037, now forms part of the development plan and will be used to help determine planning applications in the parish unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

• Read the adopted version of the Bentley NDP 2018 - 2037
• Read the adoption Decision Statement
• See the Action out of Meeting request

Supporting Evidence

The following documents act as supporting evidence for the adopted NDP:

• Local Green Space Assessment (Aug 2020)
• Landscape Appraisal (AFA, Dec 2019)
• Valued Landscape Assessment (AFA, Mar 2020)
• Bentley Design Guide (AECOM, Nov 2019)
• Housing Needs Assessment (AECOM, Jan 2020)

Previous stages...

Local Referendum (8 Dec 2022)

A local referendum on the Bentley NDP was held on 8 December 2022. The question asked of those entitled to vote was: "Do you want Babergh District Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Bentley to help it decide planning applications in the Neighbourhood Plan Area?"

• Read the declaration of results (a majority yes vote)

Reg 18 Exam Report Decision Statement (22 Aug 2022)

New procedures agreed in September 2021 meant that a NDP could be advanced to a referendum without Cabinet approval where there was no objection to implementing the Examiner's recommendations in full. That applied in this case, and the decision was confirmed through publication of the following statement:

• Read the Bentley NDP R18 Decision Statement

Reg 17 Independent Examination (Final report - 12 Aug 2022)

Babergh District Council appointed Ann Skippers BSc (Hons) MRTPI FHEA FRSA AoU to carry out an independent examination of the Bentley NDP. The examination was conducted through written correspondence. It included a focused consultation on proposed significant modifications.

On 12 August 2022, the Examiner issued her final report. It recommended that, subject to modification, this NDP met the Basic Condition tests and that it should proceed to a local referendum. 

• Read the Bentley NDP Exam Report (Aug 2022)

Reg 17 Examination & Significant Modifications consultation

The examination of this NDP began in late 2021 but was delayed for various reasons. On 15 June 2022, the Examiner issued an Interim Findings Note. This responded to a suggestion put forward by the parish council that the housing requirement figure and site allocation in Policy BEN 4 be deleted from the Plan. The Interim Note explored the implications of this and set the remit of a focused two-week consultation on proposed significant modifications to the plan. That consultation took place between 12 July and 27 July 2022.

The following documents were relevant to the examination process to date:

• the examination correspondence document, which contains a copy of the Interim Findings Note and a link to the parish councils own briefing note, to which it refers
• the Proposed significant modifications consultation letter (12 July 2022), which set out the remit for the consultation exercise
• the Written Representations on the proposed significant modifications. 

The written representations were sent to the examiner and parish council for consideration.

Reg 16 Submission Consultation (24 Jun - 27 Aug 2021)

The submission draft Bentley NDP was original published for consultation between 24 June and 11 August 2021. This was extended by two weeks following publication of a revised National Planning Policy Framework on 20 July 2021.

The parish council (the qualifying body) had formally submitted the following documents:

• A map identifying the area to which the proposed NDP relates
• The submission draft Bentley NDP 2018-2037
• A Consultation Statement
• A Basic Conditions Statement
• A Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) report
• A number of other supporting documents, some of which are now published above with the adopted NDP.

An assessment on how this NDP met the basic condition tests formed part of the examination. At the time of submission, our initial checks suggested that the relevant requirements had been met. View the Regulation 15 Checklist

Respondents were reminded that their comments would be forwarded to the examiner and, with the exception of personal details, be published on this webpage.

• Read the consultation responses (No's 1 to 13) 
• Read the final consultation response (No 14) [Note: This is a large, 26Mb file]  
• Read the Parish Council's response [This includes a proposal to modify the NDP]

SEA/HRA Screening and Determination (Dec 2020)

The pre-submission draft NDP was screened to determine whether an SEA and/or a habitats regulations assessment (HRA) were needed. The need for both were 'screened-in'.

A copy of the relevant SEA screening report and determination notice are published below:

• SEA Screening Report (LUC, Oct 2020)
• SEA Determination Notice (Dec 2020)

An HRA screening report, which includes an appropriate assessment, was prepared in November 2020 and Natural England were consulted on this. In response, they suggested that further work be undertaken. That was completed to their satisfaction and the final HRA screening report and determination notice are published below:

• HRA Screening Report & Appropriate Assessment (Place Services, Dec 2020)
• HRA Determination Notice (Jan 2021)

Reg 14 Pre-submission consultation (1 Oct to 16 Nov 2020)

Pre-submission consultation on the draft NDP ended on 16 November 2020.

Reg 05 Area Designation (16 July 2018)

• Read the area designation documents