Council-wide Plans
Neighbourhood Plan
Presenting the council's neighbourhood plan status.
Published: 11 December 2024

Appleford Parish Council is currently considering starting work on a Neighbourhood Plan for Appleford.
What is a neighbourhood plan?
In very simple terms, a neighbourhood plan is:
- A document that sets out planning policies for the neighbourhood area – planning policies are used to decide whether to approve planning applications
- Written by the local community, the people who know and love the area, rather than the local planning authority
- A powerful tool to ensure the community gets the right types of development, in the right place
Further information can be found on the Locality website: Neighbourhood Planning – Locality Neighbourhood Planning
There are a number of initial steps involved in starting work on a Neighbourhood Plan –
- Form a Steering group – to bring together a group of local people who either live and/or work within Appleford Parish. This group will also include at least one parish councillor.
- Define the designated area for the Neighbourhood Plan– the most likely designated area for the Neighbourhood Plan is the parish boundary but there may be a reason to consider including additional adjacent areas in the plan, with the consent of the adjoining parishes. As the majority of parishes on the boundary of Appleford have an existing plan it is unlikely that other areas could be incorporated. At the parish council meeting in November it was decided that Appleford would not join forces with Didcot Town Council in the development of a joint plan.
- Apply for grant funding – grant funding is available up to a total of £18,000 to prepare a Neighbourhood Plan with the assistance of planning consultants. This funding is available from Locality and the funding window for 2024-25 is currently still open but may close early in 2025.
- Determine scope of Neighbourhood Plan – this is where the main work starts to identify the issues that are important to the community and to develop policies that will be included in Appleford’s Neighbourhood Plan. This work will be carried out in collaboration with a planning consultancy and requires considerable community engagement. At the end of the process, there is a referendum on the completed Neighbourhood Plan so having the community on board with the plan is essential.
So, if you would like to be part of determining the future for Appleford then volunteer to get involved in the development of a Neighbourhood Plan. Please do get in touch with the Clerk or any of our councillors to express your interest.
Clerk – Jane Humphreys – clerk@appleford-pc.gov.uk
Chair – Vicky Shepherd – applefordpressings@gmail.com
Vice- Chair – Greg O’Broin – applefordpcworkinggroup@gmail.com