Charing Neighbourhood Plan

Adoption of Neighbourhood Plan

Following the positive referendum result, Ashford Borough Council is publishing its decision to ‘make’ the Charing Neighbourhood Plan 2011-2030 as part of Ashford Borough Council’s Development Plan in accordance with Regulation 19 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012.

The Adopted Neighbourhood Plan and formal Regulation 19 Decision statement, as required under the Neighbourhood Planning Regulations, in included in the key documents set out below:

View the Charing Neighbourhood Plan [pdf] 11206KB

View the Regulation 19 Decision Statement [pdf] 331KB

Hard copies of the Neighbourhood Plan and Decision Statement will be available to view shortly at the Civic Centre and Ashford Gateway, during their usual opening times.

Referendum

The Referendum for the modified version of the Charing Neighbourhood Plan was held on Thursday 14 March 2023. A total of 77% voted in favour of the plan.

Details of the modifications are set out in Appendix 1 of the Examiner's Report, which is available below.

Information about the referendum, including the Information Statement and Notice of Referendum are available to view by accessing the following documents.

Information Statement - Charing Neighbourhood Plan Referendum [pdf] 310KB

Notice of Referendum - Charing Neighbourhood Plan [pdf] 118KB

Referendum Timetable - Charing Neighbourhood Plan [pdf] 21KB

Regulation 18 - Council's Decision Statement

Ashford Borough Council has now considered the contents of the Examiner’s Report and have prepared a Decision Statement setting out the actions to be taken in response to the recommendations of the Examiner.

The Decision Statement confirms that the Charing Parish Neighbourhood Plan, with modifications, can proceed to referendum.

Decision Statement Charing Neighbourhood Plan [pdf] 1057KB

Public Notice Charing Neighbourhood Plan [pdf] 204KB

Independent Examination of the Neighbourhood Plan

Ashford Borough Council appointed Mr. Derek Stebbing B.A. (Hons), Dip. E.P., MRTPI as the Independent Examiner of the Charing Neighbourhood Plan. The Examination commenced on 12 September 2022.

The Independent Examination has now been completed. The Council received the Examiner's report on 20 December 2022. The Examiner's report recommended that the Charing Neighbourhood Plan has been duly prepared in compliance with the procedural requirements and that the Plan, subject to a number of modifications (set out in Appendix 1 of the Examiner's report below), meets the Basic Conditions and should proceed to referendum.

View the Examiner's report of the Charing Neighbourhood Plan [pdf] 880KB

Under Regulation 18 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 (as amended), Ashford Borough Council has a duty to respond to the Examiner's report and the proposed modifications within it, in a formal 'Decision Statement' to indicate whether they agree to the Examiner's recommendations and if the plan will progress to public Referendum within the parish.

The Decision Statement is located above.

Examination Documents

The Examiner has set out the procedural matters for how the Examination will progress, and asked some questions of the Qualifying body and the Council in correspondence dated 6 October 2022.

View Examiner's Procedural Matters and Questions [pdf] 645KB

Charing Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group response to Examiner's Questions

Charing Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group response to Examiner's Questions [pdf] 454KB

Ashford Borough Council Response to Examiner's Questions

Ashford Borough Council response to Examiner's questions [pdf] 636KB

Consultation on submission version of the Plan (Regulation 16)

The Charing Neighbourhood Plan was submitted to ABC for formal consultation. The eight-week consultation started on Friday 17 June 2022 and closed at 5pm on 12 August 2022. The plan and supporting documentation is available to view on the consultation portal.

View the Neighbourhood Plan documents and responses to the consultation.

Pre-submission consultation (Regulation 14)

Charing Parish Council undertook a statutory six week consultation on the pre-submission draft Neighbourhood Plan and the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). The consultation closed on 21 February 2020.

The consultation documents can be viewed and commented on by visiting the Charing Neighbourhood Plan website.

The Parish Council are now preparing the Submission Version of the Plan, which will be formally consulted on in due course.

Area designation

On 3 March 2016 Ashford Borough Council received an application from Charing Parish Council for the designation of a Neighbourhood Area. The area requested to be designated is the entire Parish of Charing. The application and map of the area was open for public consultation for 6 weeks between 18 March and 29 April 2016.

On 31 May 2016, ABC approved the designation of the Charing Neighbourhood Area. A copy of the designation report, Neighbourhood Area application and map, which identifies the area, is attached below.

Charing Neighbourhood Area Designation Report [pdf] 419KB

Charing Neighbourhood Area Boundary Map [pdf] 2MB

Download Application for designation from Charing PC [pdf] 100KB