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PRESS RELEASE 9th June 2018 Petworth, West Sussex

Petworth Town Council announces successful Referendum result
on the Petworth Neighbourhood Plan

Petworth Town Council (PTC) is delighted to announce that the Petworth Neighbourhood Plan has successfully passed at the Referendum held on 7th June at the Leconfield Hall.  Seventy-seven percent of those who participated agreed that the Plan should be used in all future planning applications in Petworth over the next 15 years with 662 voting in favour, 191 against.

Commenting on the result, Chris Kemp, chairman of Petworth Town Council said: “We are absolutely thrilled by the result which is a major achievement and vitally important for the future of new housing development in Petworth. By voting in favour of the Neighbourhood Plan, our parishioners have, for the first time ever, taken control of how development happens and their elected Town Council has a huge say in the outcome of local planning applications.  It also means we get to work more closely with the South Downs National Park Authority who has supported us throughout the process and totally understands the environmental and well-being sensitivities of Petworth’s setting in a National Park.

I would like to thank the people of Petworth for their support not just at the Referendum but over the last three years for providing the valuable feedback necessary to create the Plan. The next stage is to form a new Working Group dedicated to collaborating with the various landowners and statutory bodies to make the Plan a reality and better serve our growing community.”

Douglas Cooper, chairman of the Petworth Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group added: “I would like to extend thanks to the 30-strong team of volunteers who worked tirelessly to facilitate the Neighbourhood Planning process in Petworth, to South Downs National Park Authority and our planning consultants Nexus for their guidance and support throughout. Most importantly thanks are due to the residents and local businesses who all participated wholeheartedly in every stage of the public consultation process.”

About Neighbourhood Plans
Neighbourhood Plans were introduced by the Government in 2012 in an effort to democratise the planning process. They enable local people to write planning policies for their local area. They can state where new areas of housing, retail or employment should be located and what the developments should look like. But each Plan has to comply with the National Planning Policy Framework (a government document) and their Local Plan (in the case of Petworth the emerging Plan from the South Downs National Park Authority).

For all information relating to the South Downs National Park Authority Final Decision Statement, visit their website.