The Birchington Neighbourhood Plan was approved at a referendum on 26 October 2023, with 2084 people voting for the plan, and 174 voting against it. This means the neighbourhood plan came into force on Friday 27 October. A report is being prepared for Cabinet and full Council to ‘make’ the neighbourhood plan within 8 weeks of the referendum.
Referendum
A referendum relating to the Birchington Neighbourhood Plan will be held on 26 October 2023.
The question which will be asked in the referendum is ‘Do you want Thanet District Council to use the neighbourhood plan for Birchington to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?’
The referendum documents are available in view in our Birchington Neighbourhood Plan Document Folder. The Referendum Version of the Neighbourhood Plan is produced by Birchington Parish Council. If you need an Accessible version please contact the Town Council – clerk@birchington-pc.gov.uk.
Decision Statement
The Council has now issued its Decision Statement that recommends that the Neighbourhood Plan, along with recommended Modifications from the Examination, can proceed to referendum.
A schedule of the Modifications are appended to the Decision Statement for ease of reference, but can also be found in the Examination Report
Where a Decision Statement has been issued detailing an intention to send a neighbourhood plan to referendum, the plan can be given significant weight in determining planning applications.
Final report
The Examiner has now sent his final report and concluded his Examination of the Birchington Neighbourhood Plan. The Council will report the main findings of the report, and the next steps, to Cabinet.
The independent Examination of the Birchington Neighbourhood Plan is currently underway. The Council, in agreement with Birchington Parish Council, has appointed Jeremy Edge to carry out the Examination.
During his Examination of the Birchington Neighbourhood Plan, the Examiner (Mr Jeremy Edge) found the Basic Conditions Statement, as submitted by Birchington Parish Council, to be incomplete. The Parish Council revised their Basic Conditions Statement and resubmitted it to the Council.
The Council is now carrying out a 6 week consultation seeking comments on the revised Basic Conditions Statement.
The consultation is now open on our consultation portal until 20 December 2022