Step 3: Designate
You will need to decide on the Neighbourhood Area: that is, the area within which your Neighbourhood Plan (NP) policies will apply. The boundaries of a Neighbourhood Area can be decided in a number of ways - for example, with a road or canal.
Speak to other local people about it to make sure that your decision feels right to them.
By now, you will have established a good working relationship with the Neighbourhood Development and Support Unit (NDSU) within Birmingham City Council (BCC). The NDSU team can help you consider the boundaries of your Neighbourhood Area. They will not make the decision for you, but they will suggest effective ways to consult others and hold open conversations, as well as taking into account existing projects and possible wider implications of realising your ideas. They will connect you with BCC planners, local groups, residents’ networks and other people who will make valuable contributions to the process. Read about more support available from NDSU, Locality and Birmingham Community Matters.
NDSU will also submit your application to have your Neighbourhood Area and Neighbourhood Planning Forum designated - which means to formally recognise them. This may happen at the same time and, as always, NDSU will keep you updated on the timescales and process.
You can learn more about BCC’s Neighbourhood Planning strategies and protocol here.
Drawing up the Neighbourhood Area for Soho and Handsworth
When starting out on their Neighbourhood Planning journey, volunteers in Soho and Handsworth needed to define the boundaries that would make up their Neighbourhood Area. They needed to make sure their community consultations were clear and inclusive.
NDSU, alongside BCC planners and specialist planning support consultants AECOM, helped the volunteers to:
Meet with local networks, partnerships and residents’ groups to discuss the NP idea and potential boundaries, and gather people’s initial thoughts
Hold open drop-in and engagement activities in different community locations, telling people about the NP and getting their views on what the boundaries should be
Collate feedback on the boundary and hold a walkabout to discuss it with people in the community
Have the boundaries considered by BCC’s Planning team, local councillors and other relevant council colleagues - including via an NDSU-facilitated discussion
Hold a local consultation about the proposed boundary, allowing people’s concerns to be resolved early on, before any statutory consultation
Consider the local consultation feedback and agree on the boundary together
Have the boundary (the ‘Neighbourhood Area’) and the volunteer organisation that would deliver the NP (the ‘Neighbourhood Planning Forum’) formally recognised (‘designated’).