‘Departure from Neighbourhood Plan’ justified

Dear Editor, I write with reference to the letter from A Conrad on your website concerning the decision of South Oxfordshire District Council to grant planning permission for two commercial units on land at Cotmore Wells Farm and, more particularly, the role of the Town Council in that process.

In this regard, any planning application considered by the Town Council (and District Council) is assessed in the context of the legal framework provided by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act which (in Section 38(6)) essentially requires that all decisions on planning applications should be made in accordance with the Development Plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. The Development Plan comprises a range of documents of which the Thame Neighbourhood Plan is one component.

The Town Council, in its formal response to the District Council on the planning application, fully recognised that the proposals were a Departure from the Neighbourhood Plan, but considered that in view of the proposed occupiers of the units and the benefits of the proposals, namely:

Retaining ‘local’ jobs in Thame;
Facilitating the expansion of two local businesses;
Creating additional employment in Thame;
Secondary economic benefits from retaining existing and creating new business linkages; and
Off-setting for loss of existing employment land/building through permitted development

that these factors were, in combination, sufficient to justify a Departure from the Neighbourhood Plan.

The decision of the Town Council was thus clearly recorded and made in a rational and logical manner that balanced the degree of conflict with the Neighbourhood Plan against the benefits that the proposed scheme would deliver – all in accordance with the requirements of Section of 38(6) of the Act. Moreover, the decision recognised the unique circumstances of the two companies involved and, in so doing, is not a decision that otherwise impacts on the weight and strength to be attributed to the Neighbourhood Plan as part of the Development Plan and in determining future planning applications in the Parish.

Helen Stewart BEM
Thame Town Clerk