Penrith Voters will be asked to vote in Neighbourhood Plan Referendum in November

Registered voters in Penrith will be asked to vote in a referendum on the adoption of the Penrith Neighbourhood Development Plan on Thursday 28th November 2024.

The Penrith Neighbourhood Development Plan was started by Penrith Town Council in 2016.

Westmorland and Furness Council launched a final consultation on the long running Penrith Neighbourhood plan development that is now 7 years in the making since the former Eden District Council granted Penrith Town Council the designation of Penrith Neighbourhood Area and the town council started development of the Neighbourhood Plan that its reported has to date seen costs of £100,000 on the plans development spent by the town council Eden District Council and Westmorland and Furness Council.

The Neighbourhood plan voters in Penrith will be asked to vote on goes against conditions contained in the final report on the examination of the Penrith Neighbourhood Plan by the Independent Examiner in March 2022.

The Independent Examiner concluded that the Penrith Neighbourhood Plan could proceed to referendum, subject to a number of modifications including the removal in their entirety of sections including policy eight and nine of the Penrith Neighbourhood Plan.

The Examiner considered these modifications necessary to ensure the Plan meets the basic conditions that all neighbourhood plans must meet before the public are asked to vote on its approval in a referendum.

The town council disagreed with Independent Examiner and lobbied Westmorland and Furness Council to discount the Independent Examiner and retain the policy sections.

The referendum in November is forecast to cost a further £25,000 to £30,000 to hold and will ask voters a single question “Do you want Westmorland and Furness Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Penrith to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?” Voters will be asked to pick either Yes or No on the 28th November 2024.

If adopted the plan will form part of the planning policy for Penrith and be used alongside the Westmorland and Furness Local Plan and National Planning legislation when determining planning applications in Penrith.

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