Neighbourhood Plan » Bentley Parish Council

What is a Neighbourhood Plan?

A Neighbourhood Plan is a community-led planning document that sets out a vision for future development of our local area. It gives residents a say in new homes, businesses and infrastructure that reflects their needs and priorities.

It helps to protect the character of our community, influences the design and location of new developments and ensures that local views are considered when planning decisions are made.

Bentley Neighbourhood Plan

The Bentley Neighbourhood Plan was developed by a team of residents, councillors and consultants and adopted in December 2022, following a 90% “Yes” vote from residents.

Background to the Preparation of the Neighbourhood Plan

At the outset of preparing the Neighbourhood Plan, an initial residents’ meeting was held in June 2018 in the Village Hall to gauge support from the village for the Plan, and to share the Neighbourhood Plan process. 109 residents attended, and about 30 volunteered to sit on the Neighbourhood Plan committee. The Parish Council voted to go ahead with the Plan at its meeting in July 2018.

In July 2018, in accordance with the Neighbourhood Planning Regulations, Babergh District Council formally designated the whole parish as a Neighbourhood Plan Area

The area included within the scope of the plan is shown on the map below.

How the plan was prepared

Village views were canvassed in detail via a series of Neighbourhood Plan questionnaires; General, Children’s and Business questionnaires were produced. Pupils views were sought at the local schools: the front cover design is by a Bentley Primary School pupil. 283 questionnaires were returned. The Neighbourhood Plan team took stalls at the Neighbourhood Fun Days in September 2018 and 2019. In addition, Drop-In Events were held at the Village Hall to answer any questionnaire queries and to display the analysed questionnaire results and to discuss proposed Policies; The local magazine, the Bugle, delivered to all homes in the Parish, had regular updates printed in it: In addition, monthly updates were made to the Parish Council meetings.

A series of formal public consultations followed with all consultation responses recorded on the Babergh District Council website, along with supporting documents and reports. These documents can be viewed here.

The final draft was then passed for Examination in 2021. The Examiner recommended the Plan should proceed to a local referendum where residents voted in favour of the Plan.

The adopted version of the plan can be viewed here.

Review of the Neighbourhood Plan

In December 2024, the Government published a new National Planning Policy Framework and standard methodology for calculating housing requirements for local plan areas. For Babergh, the District Council suggests that the minimum annual requirement under the new methodology is 775 dwellings.

For Bentley this translates to a provisional figure of 110 dwellings up to 2045, although this may be adjusted once Babergh District Council complete their Draft New Joint Local Plan. Consultation on revised local planning policies and site allocations is expected in January 2027.

Babergh District Council are encouraging Parishes to review their existing plans and to identify potential sites for housing. In doing so, should the District Council fail to be able to demonstrate a 5 years’ supply of available housing sites, and as long as the neighbourhood plan meets the identified housing requirement for the area, it will remain valid for determining planning applications for housing development.

The Parish Council voted to start a review of the Neighbourhood Plan in February 2025 following this advice from Babergh District Council. This review is supported by our planning consultants, Places4People. Unfortunately, the Government have withdrawn all central funding for Neighbourhood Plans, so to progress, funds will have to be sought locally.

Public Consultation