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Neighbourhood Plan Update - May 2025
On Thursday 15th May 2025 the residents of Westerfield voted in favour of using the Neighbourhood Plan for Westerfield to help it decide East Suffolk Council planning applications in the neighbourhood area.
The Full Council of East Suffolk Council met on 19th May and the Westerfield Neighbourhood Plan was "made".
Having received a ‘positive’ vote at Referendum it will now carry full weight in decision making.
Neighbourhood Plan Update - April 2025
Modifications have been made to the Neighbourhood Plan, following on from the report by the examiner. The examiner has concluded that the Plan meets all the necessary legal requirements and should proceed to referendum.
East Suffolk Council are holding the referendum on THURSDAY 15th May.
All the relevant documents can be found at https://www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk/planning/neighbourhood-planning/neighbourhood-plans-in-the-area/westerfield-neighbourhood-area/
There will be three ways to vote:
1) In person at the village hall (between 7am and 10pm) for which you will be sent a polling card,
2) By post. If you already have a postal vote, you will be sent a polling card or you can apply— read Information for Voters on the link above.
3) By proxy. If you already have a proxy vote, you will be sent a polling card or you can apply for a proxy vote, if you can not get to the polling station and do not wish to vote by post. This means allowing someone that you trust to vote on your behalf. To apply for a proxy vote, contact the electoral registration office (//www.gov.uk/contact-electoral-registration-office).
The overall aim of the Neighbourhood Plan is:
To preserve the rural feel of Westerfield; and
To enhance the sense of community felt by residents
The Examiner will decide what changes are required to meet the national neighbourhood planning requirements and recommend that the Plan is subject to a Parish Referendum open to all on the Electoral Register.
The consultation ended on 19 January 2025. Next steps are imminent receipt of the Examiner's Report, with the Neighbourhood Plan heading to Referendum in the Spring.
A simple majority in favour of the Plan will mean that it can be used by East Suffolk Council when making decisions on planning applications.
The Parish Council submitted the draft Neighbourhood Plan to East Suffolk Council on 1 August 2024 and you can view the submitted Plan and supporting documents on the East Suffolk Council website.
Further consultation on the Plan was carried out by them and the independent examination has now commenced. Details of the examination process are also available on the East Suffolk Council website.
How our Neighbourhood Plan has developed
Westerfield Parish Council and volunteers from the village are producing a Neighbourhood Plan.
The Plan will help us protect and improve our village for the next 15 years and we need your help to do this. We cannot change decisions that have already been made, and we may not be able to prevent all future development. We can shape where and how any future builds are done.
We also face considerable change, with 3,500 new Ipswich Garden Suburb homes on our doorstep. Our Village Plan will help us manage the impact of that development.
The Westerfield Neighbourhood Plan questionnaire was distributed to all village households in March 2022 (in both paper and electronic format) and the Working Group reported back to the village at the Annual Parish Meeting on Wednesday 27th April 2022.
It is important that you continue to have your say. Without your input, we are not able to write a plan for the whole village. Once the final plan is completed, it will need to be approved by a simple majority referendum, with all residents (on the electoral register) being entitled to vote. The referendum will be held in the Parish by the District Council.
For further inflormation please contact: westerfieldplan@gmail.com
In 2021 the Parish Council decided to prepare a Neighbourhood Plan to cover the whole of Westerfield parish. Since that time a small group of volunteers and Parish Councillors, assisted by professional consultants, have been working to gather information and views to inform the content of the Plan.
What is a Neighbourhood Plan?
It’s a Plan agreed by local people to decide how their parish should develop - or not - over the next decade or so. Whether the Plan is approved will ultimately be decided at a Parish Referendum when, if a majority of residents that vote agree with the Plan, East Suffolk Council will be required to adopt it.
When complete, it sits alongside the Local Plan for East Suffolk (the Suffolk Coastal Local Plan 2020) and national planning policies and is used by the District Council when making decisions on planning applications.
Pre-Submission Consultation on Draft Neighbourhood Plan
We’ve now reached a major milestone and are consulting on the Draft Plan. Public consultation runs from 25 November to Friday 19 January, an extended period of 8 weeks due to the Christmas holidays. You now have the opportunity to say whether or not you support the content of the Plan or would like to see some changes and so influence planning and development policy for Westerfield for the coming years.
The Plan itself can be downloaded below.
Printed copies are available to view at The Railway Inn and The Swan during opening hours or you can borrow a copy for a short period by contacting Sue Peace 01473 210942 or Mary Pluquet 01473 231148
How to comment
We would welcome your comments. These can be submitted online or by completing the form below and returning it as instructed on the form. Comments must be received by midnight on Friday 19 January.
Online Comments Form
Download Comments Form
We want your comments, even if you support everything in the Plan!
Supporting Documents
In addition to the Plan itself, there are a number of supporting documents referred to in the Plan. These can be found below:
Westerfield Design Guidance and Codes
Westerfield Landscape Appraisal
Westerfield Neighbourhood Plan Landscape and Biodiversity Assessment
LOOKING AHEAD
Once the consultation ends, all comments received will be reviewed and the Plan will be amended as necessary. It will then be submitted to East Suffolk Council who will undertake a second round of consultation before the Plan is assessed by an Independent Examiner. The Examiner will decide what changes are required to meet the national neighbourhood planning requirements and recommend that the Plan is subject to a Parish Referendum open to all on the Electoral Register. A simple majority in favour of the Plan will mean that it can be used by East Suffolk Council when making decisions on planning applications.
