MURTON PARISH NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN WORKING PARTY
Terms of reference
1. Introduction
Murton Parish Council submitted a request to the City of York Council that the whole parish should be designated a neighbourhood area using the legislation of the Localism Act, 2011. This was granted on July 23rd 2015 and thus the Murton Parish Council is enabled to produce a neighbourhood plan.
Where a parish or town council chooses to produce a neighbourhood plan, it should work with other members of the community who are interested in, or affected by, the neighbourhood planning proposals thus allowing them to play a role in preparing the neighbourhood plan.
Murton Parish Council established a Neighbourhood Plan Working Party[1], which allows the Parish Council to appoint local people (who need not be parish councillors) to this body[2]. The relationship between these two groups shall be transparent to the wider public.
The Working Party shall be dissolved once the Murton Neighbourhood Plan has been assessed and approved by the independent examiner.
The Working Party has a purely advisory function. It is the Parish Council that formally submits the Murton Parish Neighbourhood Plan to the City of York Council.
These Terms of Reference shall apply from the date of this document and retrospectively where relevant to the date of the inception of the Working Party and will be reviewed throughout the project and amended as and when required by the Parish Council.
2. Membership of the Working Party
2.1 The Working Party shall be formed from members of the Murton Parish Council and from members of the local community who shall be invited by the Parish Council to serve on it
2.2 The Working Party shall consist of a maximum of 6 members
2.3. The Chairman of the Working Party shall be appointed by the Murton Parish Council
2.4 The membership of the Working Party shall be regularly reviewed and confirmed by the Parish Council
2.5 All members of the Parish Council may attend meetings of the Working Party.
3. Responsibilities of members of the Working Party
The members of the Working Party shall
3.1 declare any personal interest that may be perceived as being relevant to any decisions or recommendations made by it. This may include membership of an organisation, a body or group whose purposes include the influence of public opinion or policy, ownership of interest in land (directly or indirectly) or a business or any other matter likely to be relevant to the work undertaken by the Working Party
3.2 manage the preparation of the Neighbourhood Plan as agreed by the Parish Council and the Working Party itself[3]
3.3 ensure that the preparation of the Neighbourhood Plan is an inclusive, open and transparent process to all groups in the Parish and to those wishing to undertake development or be involved in the plan making process
3.4 meet on a regular basis[4].
4. Responsibilities of the Parish Council
The Parish Council shall
4.1 have the responsibility to provide the necessary funding to enable the Working Party to function effectively[5]
4.2 carry out all statutory duties associated with the Neighbourhood Plan and engage with City of York Council when necessary during the process of producing the Plan[6]
4.3 facilitate, when required, contact with the relevant statutory bodies or parties who must be consulted during the plan making process.
[1] Under section 102(4) of the Local Government Act 1972.
[2] Members of the Working Party have voting rights under section 13(3), 4(e) or 4(h) of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.
[3] This includes the arrangement of meetings; obtaining and assessing evidence about the needs and aspirations of the Parish; constructing questionnaires and analysing the results obtained from questionnaires or other data and evidence received during the planning process; liaising with the City of York Council and other relevant statutory organisations and stakeholders to secure their input in the process; identifying sources of funding; assisting the Parish Council to prepare the necessary papers associated with funding; informing the Parish Council of progress on a regular basis; supporting the City of York City Council and Murton Parish Council during the referendum process
[4] It will meet when there is business to transact. However, the Parish Council wishes to have regular reports given to it for its meetings.
[5] The Parish Council will support the preparation of the Murton Neighbourhood Plan providing sufficient assistance and financial resources to ensure the plan is prepared expeditiously providing that overall expenditure falls within the budget allocated by the Council or such funds as can be secured by the Parish Council from external bodies.
[6] The City of York Council will provide assistance under the statutory provision of the Localism Act 2011.