The new Parish Council, which met for the first time on 20 May, will now see the Plan through the examination process to the final referendum. After that, all being well, it will become ‘made’.

To get to that point, the NDP has two further stages to go through.

1. Approval by Cornwall Council (CC):

• CC reviews the Plan against basic conditions and Neighbourhood Planning Regulations.
• CC publishes the Plan for a six-week consultation. This is the public’s chance to make final comments and also to see how comments made during the Regulation 14 consultation in summer 2020 have been addressed by the Parish Council. At this stage it is presented back to parishioners in a form similar to a standard planning application. The consultation information is published on the Council’s website and hard copies will be available for those unable to view online. Look out for local publicity about this.
• CC submits the Plan for external examination. The Neighbourhood Planning Independent Examiner Referral Service (NPIERS) gives Cornwall Council a shortlist of three independent examiners. CC liaises with the Parish Council before agreeing who will carry out the examination. The examiner then begins the process, which includes reviewing the public’s comments received during the consultation. CC keeps the Parish Council informed during this stage. The Examiner produces a draft report which is submitted to Cornwall Council for fact check liaising before being finalised and then published. All being well, the plan is then signed off by the CC Portfolio Holder for Planning and can proceed to Referendum.
• CC holds a referendum. This is to formally establish local community support for the plan. If the majority of votes are in favour of the plan, it will be adopted by Cornwall Council as a formal planning document. As such it will have substantial influence over planning decisions. Information about the referendum and how to vote is published on Cornwall Council’s website 28 days in advance.
• The Plan is adopted (subject to a Yes majority).

2. There is then the Delivery phase which Cornwall Council summarises as:

• Parish Council develops Implementation Plan
• Monitoring and feedback
• Review (every five years).

Cornwall Council estimates that the whole process takes approximately five months, assuming all goes smoothly. That means we could see the following timescale for Mylor Parish’s NDP:

• June 2021: Plan submitted for examination
• July 2021: Regulation 16 six-week consultation
• August 2021: Examination and follow-up discussions
• September 2021: 28-day notice of Referendum
• October 2021: Referendum
• November 2021: The Mylor Parish Neighbourhood Development Plan will be ‘made’ and will start to play a full role in planning decisions.

The timescale may change, of course, and there are other NDPs in the queue before this one. The Parish Council will provide updates on progress.

The Steering Group has now stood down, having completed its work which began in 2017. We hope the Parish Council will do everything possible to implement it and we wish councillors well in their work on behalf of the Parish.

Our sincere thanks go to the many volunteers who have given their time to the NDP since 2017. We are proud of the Plan and hope the Parish will benefit from it in the years to come. The Plan emphasises the need for affordable housing and protection for the AONB and is a true reflection of parishioners’ wishes and aspirations for the future of their communities.

With best wishes,

The Mylor NDP Steering Group