Alwoodley Neighbourhood Plan

Find out more about the Alwoodley Parish  Neighbourhood Plan

Alwoodley Parish Council has prepared the Alwoodley Neighbourhood Plan.

The Referendum took place on 28th June and 92% of local electors who voted supported the proposal.

The Decision Statement published by Leeds City Council on 26 July 2018 to make the Alwoodley Neighbourhood Development Plan part of the Leeds Development Plan.  A copy of the Decision Statement can be found here:

Alwoodley Neighbourhood Plan Decision Statement – July 2018 Reg 19 Decision Statement – Alwoodley

The policies in the Plan can be found here:

Alwoodley Neighbourhood Plan – Policies

A full copy of the Alwoodley Parish Neighbourhood Plan can be found here:

Alwoodley Parish Neighbourhood Plan Final 19 01 2018

There are hard copies of the Plan, the Policies, the Examiner’s Report and Leeds City Council Decision Statement in Moor Allerton Library and the Alwoodley Community Centre.

Find out more about the Alwoodley Parish Neighbourhood Plan

Alwoodley Parish Council has prepared the Alwoodley Neighbourhood Plan. The Plan has been through an independent examination and Leeds City Council has confirmed that subject to modifications the Plan may proceed to the Referendum stage.

The background to the progress followed in developing the Neighbourhood Plan is set out below:

The final Alwoodley Parish Neighbourhood Plan can be found here:

Alwoodley Neighbourhood Development Final 19 01 2018

The background to the progress followed in developing the Neighbourhood Plan is set out below:

Background to Alwoodley Neighbourhood Plan

One outcome of the Localism Act 2011 is that communities can help shape and deliver new development within their areas. Under the legislation people living in Alwoodley have been able to produce a local plan for the future development within the parish which in due course would have a formal planning status.

The Parish Council felt that there are major benefits in producing a Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) and a Steering Group was formed to drive forward this initiative. We are very grateful to them for all their hard work.

Creating the plan isn’t an easy, quick or straight forward task and the process will have taken over four years to completion – the steps include:

• Establishing a ‘Steering Group’

The Group consists of Alwoodley Parish residents and Alwoodley Parish Councillors, but could also include representatives from local businesses, organisations, land owners and developers etc.

• Defining the area

Defining the area to be covered by the plan.

• Community engagement

The Steering Group needed support and input from the Alwoodley Community and initiatives were put in place to seek their views and opinions.

• Compliance

The NDP will need to be checked by City Council planners to ensure it is legal and compliant.

• Examination

An independent examination of the draft plan has been arranged.

• A referendum

A referendum will be held within the area covered by the plan requiring a ‘simple majority’ (over 50%) of those voting to approve it.

The final outcome would be the formal adoption of the NDP by the City Council who would then be bound to take the plan into account and consult with us over all future developments.

Steering Group – Terms of Reference

1. The group’s full name shall be the Alwoodley Parish Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Group’.

Aims and Objectives

2. The aims and objectives of the Group shall be:
3. to facilitate interest in and contributions to the proposed Alwoodley Neighbourhood Plan, hereinafter called ‘the Plan’
4. to liaise and consult with relevant organisations and stakeholders to secure their input in the process
5. to lead and steer the development and drafting of the Plan
6. to develop and maintain a website, to support and achieve the aims and objectives of the Group
7. to report to and work with the approval of the Parish Council

 Membership

3. Membership shall be open to all residents and businesses of Alwoodley Parish; and areas immediately adjacent to the parish, with the agreement of the Parish Council.

The Group

4. The Group will be administered by a Committee consisting of a Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and up to eight further committee members.
5. The committee shall have the power to co-opt up to four further members.
6. A quorum for committee meetings shall consist of four Members, of which one shall be the Chairman or Vice Chairman.
7. The committee shall appoint any sub-committees to facilitate the preparation of the Neighbourhood Plan.
8. The Parish Council will have the power to disband the Group.

Group Members

9. All members of the Group shall:
10. Declare any personal interest that may be perceived as being relevant to any decisions or recommendations made by the group.
11. Ensure that there is no discrimination in the development of the plan.

Click here for a list of the Steering Committee Members

Steering Committee Minutes:

You can download the documents as pdf files

The invitation to residents to become involved in writing the plan – newsletter 2013 Invitation

Project Background

Application for designation – Alwoodley Parish – Application for Designation Revised 5.11.13

Designation Letter – NA designation letter-Alwoodley.docx

Communications Strategy  –Communications Strategy

Articles in the Parish Annual Newsletter – newsletter 2013 Invitation

newsletter 2014

newsletter 2015

Other articles in Local Free Press and Community Association Newsletters

NP articles

Parish Survey

Along with the Parish 2014 Newsletter all households in the Parish were sent a copy of a Questionnaire seeking their views on what they thought about living in Alwoodley to help identify key issues for the Neighbourhood Plan.  Some 645 responses were received – 17% of those surveyed.

The following is a summary of the responses. The majority of the returns were from those who had lived in the Parish for more than 20 years.

The percentages given below are of those respondents who gave an answer to the question. Respondents were able to give more than one response to each question.

• The most common reasons given for enjoying living in the Parish was its nearness to countryside (93%) and its quietness (70%). When asked which reason was the most important to them, the nearness to the countryside (39%) and quietness (21%) were again the most popular
• The perceived drawbacks to the Parish were speed of traffic (39%) and parking congestion (39%). Other shortcomings were the lack of social facilities for teenagers (21%) and the poor choice of shopping (28%)
• When asked to indicate which of the drawbacks was of most importance, speed of traffic and parking again were the most commonly given answers, underlined by the high percentage of answers to the question ‘How has Alwoodley Parish changed in the last 5 years?’ 67% of respondents said that there was more traffic, 23% said the same and only 3 households reported feeling there was less traffic
• Respondents were asked to identify what they would wish to see protected in the future
• When asked to rank which of these was of most importance, the protection of green spaces and Adel Woods; and protecting houses from demolition to provide flats were ranked highest
• The questionnaire also asked what developments residents would like to see happen. Improved parking, safer areas around schools and facilities for young teenagers received almost identical numbers of responses. The most popular demand was for a new Health Centre, but this is already approved and will be built near to, but not in, the Parish

Comments made by respondents were passed to the Parish Council. The Neighbourhood Plan was drafted using the results from the questionnaire.  There were some concerns that we cannot address in the Plan because the problems identified did not lie within the Parish boundary.

Summary of responses

Survey questionnaire – QUESTIONNAIRE FOR RESIDENTS OF APC – Final

Survey Results – Questionnaire responses – ALL REPLIES – summary

Survey Analysis of Comments – Survey Analysis of Comments Final

Public Consultation – August 2016

The draft Alwoodley Neighbourhood Plan – pre-submission version – was published in June 2016 and was available for comments at Moor Allerton Library, Alwoodley Community Centre and on the Parish Council website.  The closing date was 31 August 2016.  An Open Day was held at the Community Centre on Thursday 14 July and was well attended during the day and early evening.

Arising from the consultation we received a total of 52 responses including 14 from statutory consultees and other organisations.  Some 38 parishioners responded in person, by letter or by email.  All responses with a return address were acknowledged together with an explanation on the reasons for the proposals or why the Neighbourhood Plan was not the appropriate place for the suggestion.

Responses were very supportive of the proposals in the Neighbourhood Plan.  A number of errors in the names of green spaces were spotted and these have been corrected.  Requests were made to add further green areas in the Golf Course estates for designation as Green Spaces.  As these were small and generally part of the street scene they have been added, but not for formal designation.

Concerns were expressed about the effect of traffic on Alwoodley Lane and Alwoodley Gates arising from the proposed development site north of Alwoodley Lane near to Alwoodley Gates.  There were also concerns about the demand for school places arising from the site on an already stretched facility.  The Neighbourhood Plan has been reinforced on both these two issues.

There were several comments about redevelopment of existing properties.  The Neighbourhood Plan has been enhanced as far as possible, although “permitted development” rights prevent both the Parish Council and the City Council from acting against such development.

Many comments related to matters outside the remit of a Neighbourhood Plan, such as parking and the impact of traffic on roads in the Parish.  These were referred back to the Parish Council.

A number of policies have been withdrawn as they are already covered by National or Local policies.

The statutory consultees provided useful feedback resulting in some minor changes.

Leeds City Council sent detailed comments mainly about the structure of the policies to ensure that the Neighbourhood Plan passes the Inspection stage and meets National and Local requirements.

First Draft Plan for public consultation – Alwoodley Neighbourhood Development Plan v1

Details of the first Consultation with Residents and other stakeholders, together with the Summary of Responses, are set out in the Consultation Statement – ANP Consultation Statement Final

Alwoodley SEA + HRA screening report

Submission of the Draft Neighbourhood Plan to Leeds City Council – September 2017

The complete Draft Neighbourhood Plan together with the Basic Conditions Statement and the Consultation Statement were submitted to Leeds City Council on 22 September 2017.

Leeds City Council has now taken over the next stage of the consultation.

The Submission Draft Neighbourhood Plan is the amended version of the plan which went out for consultation in August 2016 and takes into account the responses that were received from residents, businesses, organisations and statutory bodies.  It contains the detailed analyses undertaken to underpin the policies outlined in the Draft Plan.  The Plan conforms to Leeds City Council Core Strategy.

The Basic Conditions Statement is a legal requirement.  The Localism Act (2011) sets the basic conditions that Neighbourhood Development Plans:

• Must have appropriate regard to national policy and advice contained in guidance issued by the Secretary of State
• Must contribute to the achievement of sustainable development
• Must be in general conformity with the strategic policies contained in the development plan for the area
• Must not breach, and be otherwise compatible with, EU and Human Rights obligations

The Basic Conditions Statement includes the SEA Screening Opinion as an Appendix.

The Consultation Statement sets out the background to the preparation of the Alwoodley Parish Neighbourhood Plan as well as showing a chronology of the publicity, engagement and consultation that has helped to inform the plan.

The Appendices in the Consultation Statement contain the questionnaire used for the first consultation, a summary of those responses, a list of all those consulted in the 2016 public consultation and a detailed summary of the actions taken as a result of the responses to the consultation.

The Completed Draft Neighbourhood Plan and the associated documents submitted to Leeds City Council are available to view from links on this page.

Examiner’s Report

The Neighbourhood Plan submitted to Leeds City Council was sent for independent examination to check that it complied with basic conditions and other requirements.  The Examiners Report was submitted on 15 December 2017 and subject to modifications he recommended the Plan should proceed to a local referendum.

Alwoodley NDP Report of Independent Examination

Decision Statement

Leeds City Council has made modifications to the Plan. The Plan will now proceed to a Neighbourhood Planning Referendum on 28 June 2018

Alwoodley Neighbourhood Development Final 19 01 2018

Alwoodley Reg 18 Decision Statement