Step 11: Vote
Once your Neighbourhood Plan (NP) has gone through the examination process and you’ve worked through any issues with the Planning department at Birmingham City Council (BCC), the final version of your NP will go out for referendum across the Neighbourhood Area to which it applies.
BCC’s Governance department will facilitate the referendum. They have to run this like any local election and follow statutory processes and timescales.
No BCC department is allowed to promote the referendum, try to boost voter turnout or encourage the community to vote in any particular way.
BCC’s Neighbourhood Development and Support Unit (NDSU) will keep you informed of the timescales and outcomes. NDSU can also advise you on good practice in campaigning.
Read about the support available from NDSU, Locality and Birmingham Community Matters at every stage of your Neighbourhood Planning journey.
The Neighbourhood Plan referendum
This takes the form of a simple question put out to the local community:
Do you want this Neighbourhood Plan to be used to make formal planning decisions in [area]? Yes or No.
If more than 50 per cent of residents who are registered to vote in your Neighbourhood Area vote ‘Yes’ in favour of the NP: congratulations. It will be brought into force and BCC planners must use it when making planning decisions in your area.
In Neighbourhood Areas designated as a business area (where there is a high concentration of businesses), there will be two referendums: one for residents and one for businesses. A ‘Yes’ vote is ideal in both of these referendums. However, if one has a ‘Yes’ result and the other ‘No’, BCC can still decide to bring the NP into force. Should this happen to you, NDSU will be there to guide you.
It is possible that BCC itself will have a vote in your business referendum, as an organisation with a business interest in the area. If this is the case, NDSU will inform you of how the council has voted.
After a successful referendum, NDSU will produce and publish a Decision Statement and Information Statement on the BCC website, as well as the final version of your NP. They will place hard copies of your NP in key supervised locations in your Neighbourhood Area and in BCC offices. NDSU will update the relevant council committees too.
Share your success
This Neighbourhood Planning Toolkit has been co-produced by Birmingham City Council, Birmingham Community Matters and Locality, known collectively here as Local Visions. We’d love to hear about your success, to inspire more community organisations to consider Neighbourhood Planning in their areas of Birmingham.
We also want to know about the stages that weren’t so easy. Where were your challenges? Sharing your experience might help other Neighbourhood Planning Forums to overcome their difficulties.
Contact us.