Council welcomes Neighbourhood Forum plan

Rossendale Council has welcomed an application from Edenfield residents to establish a Neighbourhood Forum.

Last week, a group of residents formally applied to the Council to start the process.

You can find more information about the application on the Council’s website. 

Responding to the news, Councillor Christine Lamb, whose portfolio oversees planning, said:

“As a Council, we welcome any process that allows the community to engage in important issues in their area.”

“We have been approached by a number of people in Edenfield who are investigating the option of establishing an Neighboirhood Forum with the longer term prospect of producing a Neighbourhood Plan. Neighbourhood Plans are underpinned by legislation and there is quite a lengthy process to produce them. The plan would allow residents to establish their own the planning priorities for their area. If adopted, this would form the Development Plan for that area of the Borough. It must, according to law, generally link with the Local Plan and therefore cannot be used as a tool to resist all development.”“As the area does not have a Parish Council, the first step in the process is to establish a Neighbourhood Forum and work on this has commenced. If the Forum is established this would then become the body responsible for preparing the Neighbourhood Plan.”