Designating a Neighbourhood Area

No definition of a neighbourhood area is provided in law. Planning Practice Guidance provides considerations for deciding the neighbourhood area boundary including physical and non-physical characteristics such as catchment areas, socio-economic profiles, boundaries and features, character, and Local Plan policies, designations and allocations. A ward boundary can be used as a neighbourhood area if it can be demonstrated as an appropriate boundary for the purposes of neighbourhood planning.

A neighbourhood area across more than one local authority would increase the amount of work required. In this case, an area application would need to be made to, and approved by, each of the relevant local planning authorities. The neighbourhood plan would be required to be in general conformity with the strategic policies of the local plans for each relevant local authority.  The Neighbourhood Plan, once finalised, would also need to be "made" by each of the local planning authorities.  Notwithstanding the extra work involved, it is indeed possible for neighbourhood areas, and their associated neighbourhood plans, to cover areas in more than one local authority.

In parished areas, neighbourhood area boundaries often align with the Parish boundaries, because they are a logical area for which to prepare a Plan.  However, this is not a requirement. The neighbourhood area application, which is required to be submitted to the Council, must include a statement explaining why the proposed area is appropriate for designation. This provides an opportunity to promote an area which differs to the Parish Council boundary, where there is clear justification to do so. The proposed boundary will then be considered for approval by St Helens Borough Council.

Neighbourhood areas covering all or part of a Parish Council's administrative area require approval from the local authority. Applications for a neighbourhood area in a Parish must be made from the Parish Council as they are the qualifying body for the area.

St Helens Borough Council will determine applications for a neighbourhood area based on their individual merits. If necessary, the Council will seek to engage with qualifying bodies in the area to reach an agreement on how to proceed, and potentially resulting in the proposed neighbourhood area boundary changing. However, it is rare that multiple applications will be submitted for the same area at once and good engagement with the local community and other neighbouring groups can prevent multiple applications coming forward for the same area.