Neighbourhood Plan

A Neighbourhood Plan will give us the power to shape our future and growth.

It will allow residents to have a powerful influence in determining where new homes, shops and community facilities should be built and what they should look like. Once adopted it forms part of the statutory development plan and will be used by Dorset Council, as the Local Planning Authority, in making decisions on Planning Applications.

 Referendum

Sturminster Marshall Parish Council has prepared a draft neighbourhood plan. It has undergone examination by an independent examiner and has received a positive result at a local referendum. The plan will now proceed to Cabinet where a decision will be made on formally making the Sturminster Marshall Neighbourhood Plan part of the development plan for the Sturminster Marshall parish area. 

Sturminster Marshall Neighbourhood Plan 2023-2033 (referendum version) 

 Examination

In March 2024, the documents and representations were sent to an Independent Examiner, Andrew Mead BSc (Hons) MRTPI MIQ.  The Examiner considers whether the plan meets certain basic conditions, satisfies legal requirements, and will identify an appropriate area for a referendum.

It is unlikely that the examination will involve a hearing, but this will be determined by the examiner. Updates regarding the examination process will be published on this page. The examiner’s report will be published on this page at the end of the process.

On 7 March 2024, the examiner wrote to Dorset Council and Sturminster Marshall Parish Council to clarify some initial procedure matters. The documents relating to the clarifications can be found below:

 Examiner Questions Sturminster Marshall.

Sturminster Marshall Parish Council and Dorset Council's response to Examiner Questions.

Supplementary clarification was submitted 

Response to supplementary clarification 

Wyatt Homes response to Sturminster Marshall PC's response to examiner questions 

Submission Consultation

Sturminster Marshall Parish Council has submitted a draft neighbourhood plan for examination.

The plan includes planning policies to protect and enhance the character of Sturminster Marshall. These policies are intended to help make decisions on planning applications in the parish.

Before the examination, the public have an opportunity to comment on the draft plan.  The consultation period is from 19 January 2024 to 1 March 2024. The draft plan and the comments received to the consultation will be considered by an independent examiner. You can view the draft plan and respond to the consultation online at https://consultation.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/spatial-planning/smnp/

Sturminster Marshall Neighbourhood Plan Submission Draft 

Consultation Report

Basic Conditions Statement

SEA Environmental Report 

Printed copies of the draft plan can be viewed at the following locations:

• Wimborne Library, Crown Mead, Wimborne, BH21 1HH (for opening hours, tel: 01202 882770)

• The Spar, Station Road, Sturminster Marshall, BH21 4AW (open daily 7.30am to 9pm)

• St Mary’s Church, Church Street, Sturminster Marshall, BH21 4BU

Response forms should be available from the above locations and must be returned to Dorset Council by 1 March 2024.  For further information, please contact Dorset Council by:

• Email neighbourhoodplanning@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk

• Phone 01258 484224

 Background

To formally start work on our Neighbourhood Plan we applied to Dorset Council to get the Neighbourhood area designated. The submitted application met the criteria and on this basis Dorset Council has designated on 24 April 2019 the neighbourhood plan area as submitted. Sturminster Marshall Parish Council has agreed that the designated area for the Neighbourhood Plan should be all the land within the current parish boundary (see boundary map).

A Steering Group has been set up, which is leading the process for developing the Neighbourhood Plan. The Steering Group consists of representatives of the Parish Council and members of the public. The terms of reference for the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group can be found here. The agendas and minutes from the Steering Group meetings can be found below.

A consultation event was carried out on the 26th September 2019. Results of the 2019 consultation can be found here.

In August 2020 a household questionnaire was sent out to every home in the Parish. The results of the questionnaire can found found here. A report on the Autumn 2021 consultation can be viewed here - Consultation Report - January 2022

Pre-Submission Consultation

Availability of Documents

The documents published with the Pre-Submission Neighbourhood Plan, can be viewed here:

In addition, the Parish Council held a public drop-in session on Thursday, 6th July from 2pm-7pm at the Memorial Hall in Sturminster Marshall. The display boards are available to view here.

 

Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group Meetings

18 Oct 2018

Agenda

Minutes

28 Nov 2018

Minutes

26 Feb 2019

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Minutes

08 Apr 2019

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Minutes

14 May 2019

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20 Jun 2019

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15 Jul 2019

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14 Aug 2019

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02 Sep 2019

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09 Oct 2019

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11 Dec 2019

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08 Jan 2020

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13 Feb 2020

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23 Apr 2020

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20 May 2020

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20 Jul 2020

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01 Sep 2020

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22 Sep 2020

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08 Oct 2020

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12 Nov 2020

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10 Dec 2020

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14 Jan 2021

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09 Feb 2021

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09 Mar 2021

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06 Apr 2021

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04 May 2021

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20 Jul 2021

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26 Aug 2021

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14 Sep 2021

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19 Oct 2021

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09 Nov 2021

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07 Dec 2021

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13 Jan 2022

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08 Feb 2022

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10 Mar 2022

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10 May 2022

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14 Jun 2022

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25 Aug 2022

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18 Oct 2022

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13 Dec 2022

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23 Feb 2023

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23 Mar 2023

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11 May 2023

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06 Jun 2023

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15 Aug 2023

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26 Sep 2023

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07 Nov 2023

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28 Nov 2023

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28 Mar 2024

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