Last year, the villages of Shadingfield, Sotterley, Willingham & Ellough developed their shared vision for their local area in the form a new Neighbourhood Plan. This vision included an ambition for development to be better for nature by delivering more biodiversity than the minimum that will be required by national planning policy from November. In a worrying twist though, a professional planning examiner told them they couldn’t include this more aspirational goal – despite there being nothing in national policy saying they can’t.

This decision sets an alarming precedent for local communities having their ability to voice their support for development to be better for nature stifled – and why? They were not attempting to introduce a new minimum requirement or regulation. They were just expressing their hope that development in their neighbourhoods would do more and be better. Isn’t that what everyone wants? Shouldn’t people be allowed to say they would like development to do more than scrape the bottom of the barrel?

As more and more areas look to develop and adopt their own Neighbourhood Plans, it is crucial that we defend the fundamental principle that people should be allowed to express their aspirations for their local area – and that includes the ambition for more wildlife and support for development to do more to increase nature.

Now, Lavenham Parish Council is consulting the public on its draft Neighbourhood Plan, which also encourages development proposals to go beyond the national minimum requirement of 10% net gain for biodiversity.

We support the right of people in Lavenham to say they want development to do more for nature, and so can you by responding to the consultation, which runs until 18^th August: Lavenham Neighbourhood Plan » Babergh Mid Suffolk

To submit your comments, you can either use the response form:

Lavenham-NP2-Response-Form.docx (live.com)

or email:

communityplanning@baberghmidsuffolk.gov.uk

Alternatively, you can post your comments to:

LNP2 Consultation, c/o Spatial Planning Policy Team
Babergh & Mid Suffolk District Councils,
Endeavour House,
8 Russell Road,
Ipswich, IP1 2BX