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Northam Neighbourhood Plan Proposal

Northam Neighbourhood Plan proposal

Introduction

Northam Town Council have prepared a proposal for a neighbourhood plan in the parish area covering Northam, Westward Ho! and Appledore. You can find details of the neighbourhood plan proposal and its progression below. 

Examination of the Neighourhood Plan

Examination of the proposed plan

Following a period of public consultation between 13 August and 26 September 2025, the Northam Neighbourhood Plan proposal was subject to independent examination with Andrew Mead BSc (Hons) MRTPI MIQ of Intelligent Plans and Examinations (IPE) Ltd appointed to carry out the examination. The Examiner's Report was received by Torridge District Council on 10 February 2026 and made the recommendation that the May 2025 Northam Neighbourhood Plan proposal should be taken to referendum once seventeen modifications to sixteen policies have been made to ensure that plan meets the requirements in Paragraph 8(1) of Schedule 4B, of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. The examiner's final report has been published and is available to read, together with other relevant examination documents, on this web page. 

Following receipt of the Examiner's Report, Northam Town Council have made modifications to the Northam Neighbourhood Plan Proposal. The latest version of the Northam Neighbourhood Plan proposal are available on this website (added on 22 March 2026). 

Next Steps

Prior to Torridge District Council making a decision on whether the Northam Neighbourhood Plan should proceed to a referendum, the District Council undertook a focused public engagement exercise, and sought comments relating to any implications arising out of the 25 March 2026 changes to the legal compliance and Basic Conditions against which the Northam Neighbourhood Plan was examined.

Legal Changes

The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (Commencement No. 11 and Saving and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2026, commenced sections 98 and 99 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, which came into effect on 25 March 2026.

These amend Section 38C of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and Paragraph 8(2), Schedule 4B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 in respect of the legal compliance and the Basic Conditions requirements for neighbourhood plans.

In summary, the further legal compliance requirements are as follows:

  • so far as the qualifying body considers appropriate, and having regard to the subject matter of the plan, the plan must be designed to secure that the development and use of land in the neighbourhood area contribute to the mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change; and

  • so far as the qualifying body considers appropriate and having regard to the subject matter of the plan, the plan must be designed to take account of any local nature recovery strategy under section 104 of the Environment Act 2021 that relates to all or part of the neighbourhood plan area.

In addition, there is a new Basic Condition requirement:

  • the making of the neighbourhood development plan would not result in the development plan for the area of the authority proposing that less housing is provided by means of development taking place in that area than if the neighbourhood development plan were not to be made.  Note: this replaces the former Basic Condition that the neighbourhood plan be in general conformity with the strategic policies contained in the development plan for the area (Basic Condition '(e)' is replaced by '(ea)').  

A further Basic Condition, '(fa)', related to the new environmental assessment framework is commenced albeit, until such time as a completed framework for the implementation of Environmental Assessment Reports is in place, compliance with this Basic Condition cannot be assessed.

Given the focused nature of the consultation, we invited written responses in relation only to whether you considered that there are any implications for the draft Northam Neighbourhood Plan arising from the legal changes.

The consultation closed on 1 May 2026

Representations were to be made in writing and were published on this consultation portal.

What happens Next?

Following the closing date for responses, the District Council forwarded the responses received to the previously appointed Examiner, Andrew Mead, to seek an opinion. This will comprise a desk based reassessment of the draft Plan against the revised legal requirements coupled with, and informed by, any responses submitted.

The Examiner will produce an Addendum (to his final report), setting out the context and the process undertaken, and will advise whether any revised or further proposed modifications should be recommended to the District Council as a result of the legal changes and responses received.

The Addendum to the final report will provide the District Council with a further, independent, assessment to assist in informing its determination whether, and in what form, the draft Plan should proceed to a referendum.

It has been agreed with Northam Town Council the that we shall seek to make a referendum decision on the Northam Neighbourhood Plan by 22 June 2026. 

May 2025 Submission Version of Neighbourhood Plan Documents

Northam Town Council, as the relevant qualifying body, submitted the Northam Neighbourhood Plan proposal to Torridge District Council in accordance with Regulation 15 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 (as amended) in May 2025.  The submission documents are available for download below.

The Neighbourhood Plan proposal covers the parish of Northam and establishes a vision for the evolution and long-term sustainability of Northam, Appledore and Westward Ho!, and provides policies to guide development within the designated area over the period up to 2031.

Torridge District Council held a public consultation in accordance with Regulation 16 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 (as amended) between Wednesday 13 August until 16:45 on Friday 26 September 2025.

The Neighbourhood Plan proposal and the following supporting documentation are available to download here:

Representations that were submitted as part of the first Regulation 16 consultation can be found online via this consultation portal.

Other previous consultations

Consultation on additional Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Habitat Regulation Assessment (HRA) information in relation to the Northam Neighbourhood Plan proposal

Between 17 November and 15 December 2025, Torridge District Council sought views on specific additional information relating to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Habitat Regulation Assessment (HRA) for the Northam Neighbourhood Plan proposal. This consultation was supplementary to the wider consultation on the proposed neighbourhood plan that concluded on 26 September 2025 and is limited to only these specific matters. 

This consultation closed on 15 December 2025.

Following the conclusion on 26 September 2025 of the wider consultation on the Northam Neighbourhood Plan proposal, it became clear that the consultation did not include a copy of the correspondence sent from Torridge District Council to Northam Town Council on 23 March 2023 that confirmed that no Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA) or Habitats Regulation Assessment (HRA) was required. 

Therefore, Torridge District Council sought views on the conclusion reached by Torridge District Council on 23 March 2023 that, based on comments received from statutory consultees in January and February 2023, that no SEA or HRA would be required as a result of the draft Northam Neighbourhood Plan.  

Viewing comments online

Representations received regarding the additional consultation can be viewed on this consultation portal. 

Privacy Information

Please note that the information collected as part of the Regulation 16 consultation was to support the process of neighbourhood planning. The Council collects, stores and processes personal information in accordance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) and Data Protection Act 2018. Our lawful basis has been determined as:

  • Legal Obligation - the processing is necessary for the Council to comply with the law;
  • Public Task - in relation to personal data.

Personal information provided through the consultation may be shared with third parties where we are legally obliged to do so, or where this is necessary to enable us to provide the service requested. Representations received as part of the consultation cannot be treated confidentially, will be passed to the person appointed to examine the neighbourhood plan and may be made publicly available via the Council's website and consultation portal. The Council's privacy policies including information on your rights, how to contact the Data Protection Officer, data retention information, details of information sharing and how to provide feedback or make a complaint can be found on the privacy pages of our website at: https://www.torridge.gov.uk/privacypolicy. 

Northam Neighbourhood Area Designation

In accordance with Section 61G of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) and pursuant to a decision made by a meeting of the Full Council on 7 August 2017, Torridge District Council has designated the Northam Neighbourhood Area. Following its designation, a Community Governance Review resulted in recommendations to change a part of the Northam/Abbotsham parish boundary. An updated map is available to download on this webpage. 

The area to which the designation relates is the whole of the Civil Parish of Northam. The letter of application from Northam Town Council, together with the formal Notice of Designation (including a map of the designated area) are available to download on this webpage.

Further Information

For further information on their Neighbourhood Development Plan please see the Northam Town Council website (This links to an external website. The Council cannot be held responsible for the content of external websites). 

For any further queries, please e-mail [email protected]