Consultants Needed to Take Neighbourhood Plan Forward

Hailsham Town Council is looking to appoint a suitably qualified consultant to help in the preparation of the town’s Neighbourhood Development Plan.

Consultants suitably experienced in spatial planning, planning policy preparation and with a good working knowledge of neighbourhood planning, are required to assist the Town Council in the project.

The Town Council agreed to progress the preparation a Neighbourhood Plan for Hailsham under the powers granted by the Localism Act 2011, the aims and objectives of the Hailsham Neighbourhood Plan will be to:

• Create a vision for sustainable development within the parish of Hailsham
• Conserve and enhance the historic setting of the parish, including open spaces
• Support the expansion of local business and optimise employment capacity
• Identify transport infrastructure requirements within the parish
• Determine education, health and community facilities needs of parishioners

The local planning authority, Wealden District Council, is in the process of preparing a draft Local Plan, as well as a Hailsham Action Plan, and expects that the neighbourhood planning work will both respond to and inform the content of those emerging Plans.

The District Councils timetable envisages submission of its draft plans to the Planning Inspectorate for Examination in the first quarter of 2017. It is anticipated that the Neighbourhood Plan preparation process will be carried out in parallel to the draft Local Plan/Area Action Plan timescales and will take 12-18 months to produce,

Councillor Paul Soane, chairman of the Town Council’s Neighbourhood Planning Committee said: “A plan of this scale is considered necessary to enable full consideration to be given to the significant opportunities and challenges facing Hailsham and to ensure the future comprehensive planning and regeneration of the town.”

“We welcome consultants to submit a planned programme of work to demonstrate how this could be achieved and to identify any risks and/or impediments to achieving such a timescale.”

The Town Council has initially set a budget of £80,000 to cover all costs associated with preparation of a Neighbourhood Plan, including consultant costs, and having due regard to grants that may be available. Consultants will be expected to:

• Carry out necessary evidence based preparation to support the Neighbourhood Plan preparation and produce a Report of Survey and Physical Appraisal
• Carry out community and stakeholder engagement and test emerging themes resulting in the establishment of a Vision and Set of Objectives
• Draft a set of robust policies for the topic themes that are confirmed in due course drawing upon work carried out on the above
• Draft the intended Neighbourhood Development Plan and the statutory required supporting documents

The deadline for tender submission is 12 noon on Friday 13 May 2016. Full details of tender submission are available here: CONSULTANTS’ BRIEF | SPECIFICATION

The Neighbourhood Planning Steering Group will invite consultants for interview as part of the selection process.