People and Place
This page contains information about our current projects, and links to relevant materials.
People and Place Plans
People and Place Plans offer local people a constructive way to tell us what really matters in their community.
We recognise that so much is done in our communities by volunteers, without any input from us, and by members of the community who want the best for their place and the people who live and work there.
Our People and Place approach is based on the view that gaining a better understanding of the characteristics, challenges and opportunities of a place will, in turn, support more appropriate plans for the future.
This type of “lighter touch” community led approach is not intended to directly influence the development management process (it cannot be given formal weight in the determination of planning applications) but it can be pursued, where desirable, through the onward development into a neighbourhood plan.
The People and Place approach is not only relevant to planning. It also has the potential to capture the many and varied elements that characterise a place and its people and local priorities.
This could include:
- Homes
- Jobs
- Transport
- Community facilities
- Infrastructure needs
- Biodiversity and climate related ambitions
People and Place Plans are best suited to communities that are:
- Not quite sure whether to develop a neighbourhood plan or not
- Keen to mobilise the community
- Interested in documenting their local area
They are not designed to be either a quicker way to produce a neighbourhood plan or the means to influence the determination of planning applications (unless progressed into a neighbourhood plan on completion).
Getting started
The resources below contain a toolkit and advice to support communities create a People and Place Plan.
We have also developed workshop options which are explained below:
- Workshop 1 - Understanding Planning
- Workshop 2 - Community Engagement - Options and Preparation
- Workshop 3 - Gathering and Assessing Evidence
- Workshop 4 - Developing Proposals that add value and guide decisions