Enhancing Neighbourhood Plans with the Quality of Life Framework

Neighbourhood Plans are at the forefront of community-driven development. Applying the Quality of Life Framework to a Neighbourhood Plan can help ensure a nuanced, positive impact on local people’s quality of life. And it can help planners tell the positive story of development.

This Q&A with Jon Herbert, Director at Troy Planning + Design, sheds light on the invaluable use of the Quality of Life Framework in Neighbourhood Plans, exploring how Troy Planning + Design applied the Framework during the development of  Paddock Wood’s plan.

What is a Neighbourhood Plan, and what were the objectives of the one at Paddock Wood?

A Neighbourhood Plan is a land-use document that contains policies intended to influence future change and development in an area.  

They are developed by the local community (in this instance, the Town Council who set up a Steering Group comprising Councillors and residents) and must reflect higher-level policies established in the District or Borough-level Local Plan. 

As such, the value of the Neighbourhood Plan is to establish policies that respond to more locally-specific challenges and opportunities. Beyond land-use and development matters they can also include wider aspirations for change, such as improvements to the quality of the public realm and movement network.

The Neighbourhood Plan for Paddock Wood is set in the context of major growth aspirations for the town established in the new Local Plan being prepared by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. The Paddock Wood Neighbourhood Plan seeks to influence the design and form of development that comes forward so that it responds to the best qualities of the area and helps affect positive change in terms of quality of place.

How did you use the Quality of Life Framework in this Neighbourhood Plan? What were the benefits of using the Framework? 

The Quality of Life Framework was used to help communicate the aspirations for the Neighbourhood Plan.

Many people were confused about the relationship between the Neighbourhood Plan and Local Plan, thinking that the Neighbourhood Plan was promoting major growth, which many residents were opposed to.  

The narrative in the Neighbourhood Plan seeks to communicate the difference between the two plans. Using the Framework helped show that the Neighbourhood Plan is trying to make sure that whatever development does come forward in the area is the very best it can be for Paddock Wood, capturing benefits for the community in terms of housing types, provision of local services and facilities, and access to green space, for example.

Did you make any changes to the Neighbourhood Plan based on the themes and sub-themes in the Framework?

The Framework helps ratify the direction of the Plan and the mix of policies within it.

The vision for the Neighbourhood Plan is essentially about improving quality of life, place and environment for the benefit of all and, through the formal consultation and examination stages, helped demonstrate the link between the vision and policies.

Were any elements of the Framework more important than others to the stakeholders in this context?

Themes in respect of ‘Control‘ and ‘Belonging‘ are central to the ethos of Neighbourhood Planning as the vision, objective and policies are effectively the spatial expression of the community’s manifesto for the area.  

The Plan thus provides the community with a very real opportunity to influence future change.

Equally, Paddock Wood has always had a strong relationship with the land and surrounding countryside. Policies around green infrastructure, and thus the relationship with access to nature, health and wellbeing are key to the Plan.  

Perhaps most importantly, the Framework helps show that the discussion around future change and development is not a simple one about housing numbers alone, but is far more nuanced and can help unlock other benefits.   

What have been the outcomes or impacts of implementing the Neighbourhood Plan informed by the Quality of Life Framework?

In the absence of a Local Plan (which has been considerably delayed and remains at Examination), the Neighbourhood Plan is ‘saving the day’ as it represents the most up-to-date statement of policy for the area against which any proposals for development will be determined. A set of projects and aspirations are also identified in the Plan, such as improvements to the walking and cycling network, which the Town Council can further develop with delivery partners.

How have residents responded to the Neighbourhood Plan and its alignment with the Quality of Life Framework?

Neighbourhood Plans can only be successfully ‘made’ (or adopted) following a public referendum. In Paddock Wood, 76% of all those who turned out to vote were in favour of making the Plan. In an area where there remains scepticism about the scale of future growth envisaged in the Local Plan, this represents a strong level of support for the Neighbourhood Plan and the direction taken in it.

What advice do you have for others considering a similar approach?  What valuable lessons were learned from this experience that can be applied in future projects?

The Framework is extremely helpful in moving the conversation away from one that is focused on housing numbers and traffic, to one that has a far more positive outlook and where the community can begin to proactively shape change.  

Introducing the Framework and its themes at an early stage in the process will help set a strong foundation for the policies and ideas developed through the Plan and, crucially, where a public referendum is involved, help win hearts and minds.