Neighbourhood Plan

Rusper Parish Council Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group (2023) Terms of Reference

The purpose of the Steering Group (SG) is to work on the Rusper Parish Council (RPC) response to the upcoming Horsham Local Plan and to consider changes to the existing Rusper Neighbourhood Plan to reflect the new Horsham Local Plan once it is adopted. Advice is available from Horsham District Council (HDC) through the appointed Neighbourhood Planning Officer. All liaison with HDC will be through Rusper Parish Council.
The SG will be formed from volunteers from the Parish and all Members of Rusper Parish Council.
The SG will include a Chair elected by RPC and a Vice Chair elected by the SG.
It is intended as far as possible that the SG will fully represent the attitudes and wishes of the entire Parish in order to gather the views and opinions of residents, groups and organisations in the community and to seek the view of relevant authorities, stakeholders and adjoining parishes.
All aspects of finance and accountancy will be administered by the Responsible Financial Officer of Rusper Parish Council.
Focus Groups (FGs) may be formed as necessary to provide the SG with reports and surveys and address particular issues. Initially, the following topics will be examined:
1. A Policies of the new HDC Local Plan
2. B Proposed strategic sites for new HDC Local Plan
3. C Conflicts of new HDC Local Plan with existing RPC Neighbourhood Plan
4. D Changes to RPC Neighbourhood Plan to comply with new Horsham Local Plan
5. E Other changes to Rusper Neighbourhood Plan
Each FG will consist of one or more SG Members. FGs can request assistance from the SG or RPC.
The SG should meet once per month, or as required depending on timescales and work load.
The SG will be quorate if four Members, including the Chair or Vice-Chair, attend a meeting and decisions will be by majority vote. The Chair will have the casting vote.
FGs may meet separately to the SG as often as required and report back to the SG. There will be no quorum for FG meetings, but they may not make decisions outside of the main SG meetings. .
Both SG and FGs are required to Minute meetings and records will be made available for RPC and public reference.
Agendas for the SG will be published on the RPC website and Parish notice boards. FG Members may attend SG meetings to observe, but cannot vote, unless they are members of the SG.
SG and FG Members will be expected to complete a register of interest that will be accessible by the Parish residents.

These Terms of Reference may be altered and additional clauses added with the simple majority of the SG committee with the Chair having the casting vote, but any changes must be ratified by a full RPC meeting before coming into effect.
The views of residents, businesses and others with interests in Rusper will be sought by the SG and FG Members using various methods of communication including open meetings and surveys.
The project will be managed through a project plan to be produced by the SG. All outputs from the SG and budgets must be ratified by a full RPC meeting, before they are released or any expenditure is incurred.
The Steering Group and Focus Groups must maintain confidentiality when requested and comply with all requirements of the Data Protection Act.

AGREED BY MEMBER:
NAME …………………………………………………………………………

SIGNED ………………………………………………………………………

CONFIRMED ……………………………………………………………… Rusper Parish Council

DATE …………………………

Get involved in planning Rusper’s future

Rusper’s Neighbourhood Plan was adopted by Horsham District Council (HDC) in 2021: https://www.horsham.gov.uk/planning/neighbourhood-planning/rusper

It’s likely, however, that HDC’s new Local Plan will have significant implications for Rusper, and make key areas of our current Neighbourhood Plan redundant. Previous drafts of the Local Plan include the allocation of land West of Ifield for 3,000 houses, with the expectation of a further 7,000 houses from Lambs Green to Faygate and Ifield.

The best way for us to collectively respond to HDC’s Local Plan is via a Working Group of residents and parish councillors to review it and to propose responses. These could then be discussed and submitted to HDC by Rusper Parish Council. The Working Group would also redraft the relevant areas of our Neighbourhood Plan, once a new Local Plan for Horsham District is adopted.

We’re looking for volunteers to join the Working Group. All skills and experience would be welcome: organisational, administrative, analytical, drafting and editing, as well as specialist knowledge in areas such as planning, ecology and wildlife, climate change, transport policy, housing, etc. Most importantly we need volunteers with a love of the area and ideas to help keep it as a great place to live and grow.

Please contact [email protected] to volunteer, or for further information or queries contact the Chair of Planning for the Parish Council [email protected].

What is Neighbourhood Planning?

Neighbourhood planning was introduced in 2011 through the Localism Act. Neighbourhood planning allows local residents and businesses to have their own planning policies in a neighbourhood plan that reflect their priorities, deliver tangible local benefits and have real weight in planning decisions. Local people can also grant permission for development through ‘neighbourhood development orders’ and ‘community right to build orders’.