Review of Langham Neighbourhood Plan (LNP).

January 2021

Langham’s award-winning 2018 Neighbourhood Plan (LNP) is currently being updated by a Steering Group set up by Langham Parish Council (LPC).

Why is the LNP being updated now?

There are three reasons

• Rutland County Council is producing a new Local Plan, due to be published in early 2022 and we need to ensure the LNP aligns with the policies therein
• National Planning Guidelines have changed somewhat and, again, we must check that the policies in the LNP are consistent with National Policy
• The requirements and views of the community of Langham may have changed over the 4 years since its publication in 2017 and it is recommended that any Neighbourhood Plan be reviewed every 4/5 years to ensure that it is still relevant to the community it protects.

Where can I view the current LNP?

The current LNP can be accessed at www.langham-pc.gov.uk,

What changes might we expect?

The Steering Group does not anticipate radical change to the Policies set out in the current plan but:

• The wording of some Policies will benefit from improvement so that they cannot be misinterpreted
• Some new policies – around biodiversity and energy renewal – might be more relevant today than they were in 2017
• There is an opportunity to streamline the document now that we have the experience of producing the first version and the benefit of hindsight.

The role we need you to play.

Whilst the Steering Group will drive this project and do much of the work there are two roles that the community can play, one of which is helpful and the other essential

• It would be helpful if the Steering Group could enlist help in such things as putting up posters, posting flyers, proof reading, IT skills etc – this will help share the workload
• It is essential that any changes that are suggested by the Steering Group are supported by the community. So we will regularly put one or two Policies on the website – with the proposed changes alongside, and ask you, members of the community ,to give your views on the changes. The final version of all Policies will then reflect the views of the majority who respond.

In an ideal world we would hold public meetings and have discussions to achieve this, but, alas, Covid will not allow it – and our deadline is driven by the 2022 publication of RCC’s emerging Local Plan.

We will continue to keep you updated on the LPC website, along with posters and articles in Langham News.

So please keep looking at the website – and if you have a neighbour who cannot access the website, perhaps you could ensure they are kept updated and are able to offer their views via you.

Thank you

LNP Steering Group (Pat Ovington, Jennifer Maskell, Tim Maskell, Penny Viner, Alex Marshall)