Weymouth Neighbourhood Plan
What is a neighbourhood plan?
A neighbourhood plan sets out the policies that are used to make decisions on planning applications in that area.
It is led by the local community and gives you the power to shape future development in your area.
Where will Weymouth Neighbourhood Plan apply?
Our neighbourhood plan will apply to the wider Weymouth area, not just the town centre.
The designated boundary was agreed in July 2020.
Following a ‘yes’ vote in the referendum on 13 February 2020, Dorset Council officially ‘made’ the Sutton Poyntz Neighbourhood Plan on 5 May 2020. The new Weymouth Neighbourhood Plan will ensure that the Sutton Poyntz plan is respected and included within the new developing plan.
The process
As your town council, we facilitate Weymouth’s Neighbourhood Plan. It’s our job to get the views of local residents and businesses and use them to write planning policies which reflect our community’s vision for Weymouth.
This is a collaborative process and we will use stages of community engagement to decide the content of the plan.
Early engagement
We will gather information and views of the community to help us develop aims for the plan.
Mid-stage engagement
We will facilitate discussions focussing on the aims for the plan. Results will be used to develop further detail.
Consult on final plan
We will produce a draft plan and publish for consultation. Following public consultation we will submit to Dorset Council, our local planning authority.
The project so far
The plan will develop over the next 2 years through consultation with local people and support from experts in Neighbourhood Planning. It will be directed by a Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group, comprising people who represent our many different communities, businesses and interest groups in Weymouth and will be approved by Weymouth Town Council and Dorset Council.
The first stage will be to prepare the ‘Vision and Aims’ for the project, describing the needs, expectations, and aspirations of the community. It helps to guide the Neighbourhood Plan, so it is reflective of what the community want the neighbourhood area to be like at the end of the plan period.
To create a vision , we asked residents to complete a survey to tell us about their neighbourhood and what they would like to see. We’ll use these results to create draft vision and aims, which will be discussed at the next Steering Group meeting on 22 March 2021.
Get involved
We’re holding Neighbourhood Forum virtual meetings every other month, which are open to the public.
If you’d like to attend or want more information about the Weymouth Neighbourhood Plan and how to get involved, email: neighbourhood@weymouthtowncouncil.gov.uk
Subscribe to our Weymouth Town Council newsletter to get the latest updates and find out about opportunities to get involved.