Leeds picked in pilot scheme for neighbourhood planning in deprived areas

The city is one of seven areas selected for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ project, which is called a Simpler Approach to Neighbourhood Planning.

A Leeds City Council spokesperson said: “The pilot is particularly focused on inner-city and more deprived parts of the city where involvement in planning tends to be lower.

“A neighbourhood plan can help to decide where new development takes place and what it looks like and to protect green spaces and heritage.

“This pilot will also provide an opportunity for communities in Leeds to work with the council to find innovative local solutions to the climate change challenge and to explore other issues local people are interested in.

“Leeds already has more neighbourhood plans than the whole of London, but is keen to extend the opportunity to more communities and to explore new ways of working together to make all neighbourhoods better places to live and work.

“The council will be working closely with the Government throughout 2022 on the initiative and will shortly be working with communities in Leeds to select the pilot areas. Expressions of interest can be made to [email protected].”

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has allocated up to £45,000 for each of the council areas, which also include Middlesbrough and Bassetlaw, for the pilot project, which intends to make it easier for communities to set out their priorities for future development.

The Government has also awarded up to £50,000 to four councils, including Middlesbrough, from the Bidding Fund for Local Planning Authorities in Underrepresented Areas.

This will go towards initiatives that give additional support to residents to produce a Neighbourhood Plan, which must be used by a local authority when determining planning applications.

Currently less than seven per cent of existing Neighbourhood Plans are in the most deprived areas and only five per cent are in urban areas.

Housing Minister Christopher Pincher said: “Local people know their areas best and by getting involved in neighbourhood planning, they can properly influence future development in their communities.

"Through these pilots, we are giving more people, and particularly those from under-represented areas, the tools they need to influence decisions that affect their lives.”

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