A Referendum on the adoption of the Penrith Neighbourhood Development Plan is being held on Thursday 28th November 2024 as Westmorland and Furness Council publish the notice calling the referendum.
Voters living in the parish of Penrith covered by the town council will be asked to cast a vote on the 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?’ with a Yes or No option.
The 2011 Localism Act introduced a new set of tools for neighbourhoods to come together and shape the future of their local areas. One of those tools was to bring an optional new tier of plan into the planning system, otherwise known as a Neighbourhood Development Plan.
A Neighbourhood Development Plan enables Town and Parish Councils to prepare, with the communities they represent, a formal planning document for their area. The purpose of a Neighbourhood Development Plan is to empower local people to take a proactive role in shaping the future of the areas in which they live and to give local people greater ownership of the plans and policies that affect their local area.
The town council embarked on developing the Penrith Neighbourhood Plan in 2016 and its claimed that development of the plan has seen costs of over £100,000 incurred by the Town council, the former Eden District Council and Westmorland and Furness Council who will also cover the estimated £30,000 cost of the referendum next month.
In March 2022, the Independent Examiner issued his report on the examination of Penrith Town Council’s Penrith Neighbourhood Development Plan. The report concluded that the Plan should proceed to referendum, subject to amendments being made in line with the Examiner's recommended modifications. This included removal fully of two policy from the plan.
Westmorland and Furness council ran a public consultation earlier this year on the two modifications rejected the Independent Examiner had required.
The council invited residents, landowners and businesses to submit comments as part of the consultation that was open from the 8th January 2024 until 18th February 2024.
Following the consultation Westmorland and Furness Council said the council “is satisfied that the current Plan meets the legal requirements and basic conditions as set out in legislation. As a result, the council has determined that the Plan should proceed to a referendum.”
The council will be running a single referendum that will give 13350 voters the chance to pick a Yes or No option on the 28th of November but has seen challenge for the councils refusal to provide a separate referendum for the town’s Business zones covered by the two Business improvement districts in Penrith that legislation sets out as a requirement and other local authorities have run for neighbourhood plan referendums according to a group that has announced it will be campaigning and setting out why it thinks “voters should vote No” in the Penrith Neighbourhood plan in the November referendum.
The rules set out for the Neighbourhood plan referendum mean that if more than 50% of the total votes cast in the referendum are in favour of the Plan it will be adopted by Westmorland and Furness council and used in the determination of planning applications in Penrith.
If more than 50% of the votes cast are against the Plan, the Plan will not proceed and it will not be adopted by the Council.
The last local referendum held in Penrith was a decade ago when voters were asked the single question on a Postal Ballot, “Do you think Penrith should have a Town Council?” With a Yes or No option for voters.
Of the 12,196 residents eligible to vote in the postal referendum in 2014 only 5089 returned the ballot paper with 14 of those invalid.
Of the 5089 votes cast accounting for less than half the towns registered voters 65 per cent that responded in the postal ballot voted Yes to the proposal for creating a town council with 35 per cent of those who responded voted No to creating a town council.
The actual number voting YES was 3311 (65.2% of the valid vote) and the number voting NO was 1764 (34.8% of the valid vote).
The referendum on the Penrith Neighbourhood plan could be decided by a few hundred voters based on turnout for previous local referendums and elections in the town for council elections that have resulted in a voter turnout average of 23-25% in recent elections.
A copy of the Penrith Neighbourhood Plan, as well as a range of associated and supporting documents, can be found on the Westmorland and Furness website at www.eden.gov.uk/planning-and-building/planning-policy/neighbourhood-planning/penrith-neighbourhood-planning-area/
The documents are also available to view at the following locations during normal opening hours:
Voreda House, Portland Place, Penrith, CA11 7BF
Penrith Library, St Andrew’s Churchyard, Penrith, CA11 7YA
Kendal Town Hall, South Lakeland House, Lowther Street, Kendal, LA9 4DQ
Barrow Town Hall, Duke Street, Barrow in Furness, LA14 2LD
The deadline for applications to be included in the register of electors for the referendum is Tuesday 12 November 2024.
The deadline for new applications to vote by post or to change existing absent vote details is 5pm on Wednesday 13 November 2024.
The deadline for new applications for a Voter Authority Certificate or Anonymous Elector Document is 5pm on Wednesday 20 November 2024.
The deadline for new applications to vote by proxy is also 5pm on Wednesday 20 November 2024.
The deadline for new applications to vote by proxy on grounds of medical emergency is 5pm on Thursday 28 November 2024.
The deadline to issue replacement spoilt, or lost postal ballot papers is 5pm on Thursday 28 November 2024.
The deadline to issue a temporary Voter Authority Certificate is 10pm on Thursday 28 November 2024.