Alnwick and Denwick residents urged to have their say on key planning document

A review of the Alnwick and Denwick Neighbourhood Plan, now more than five years old, is to be carried out.

The document is considered to have been of great value in helping to plan development in recent years but a number of parts of it require updating.

Alnwick Town Council has agreed to start a review which will consider changes in national planning policy as well as the recent introduction of the Northumberland Local Plan.

Specific areas the council is looking at developing are affordable housing, possibly through Community Led Housing Developments, developing better design principles for new development, doing more to ensure development reduces carbon footprint and addresses climate change, protecting nature and supporting the town centre.

Peter Hately, chief officer and town clerk, said “The review is a big opportunity to make sure we keep the Neighbourhood Plan relevant so that it provides robust guidance to shape Alnwick’s future development.”

Neighbourhood plans are plans prepared by and for their communities to give local residents and business an active voice in planning where development should take place and how it should be carried out.

As with the original plan the review will be prepared jointly with Denwick Parish Council and a steering group, charged with preparing the review, will include members of Denwick Parish Council as well as the town council and members of the Alnwick Partnership.

The idea of the review was trailed at a well attended public forum event in the Northumberland Hall in November.

Peter Biggers, a planning consultant assisting the town council, said: “All the work on the review will be fully discussed with residents and businesses in the town and surrounds at key stages and this will kick off in February/March with an initial consultation on what the review should look at and whether we need to update the vision and objectives for Alnwick and Denwick set out in the original plan. This is the first big opportunity for residents and businesses to have a say.”

Copies of the original plan can be viewed in the Library at Alnwick Playhouse and on the Alnwick Town Council website.