Referendum
A referendum on the Neighbourhood Plan for Shenley was held on Thursday 6 May 2021 in which anyone registered to vote in the area covered by the Shenley Neighbourhood Plan was entitled to vote. You can read the referendum version of the Shenley Neighbourhood Plan (45.63mb) online. Voters were asked:
Do you want Hertsmere Borough Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Shenley to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?
A simple majority of votes (over 50% of those voting) in favour of the Neighbourhood Plan was required in order for the local planning authority (Hertsmere Borough Council) to 'make' the Neighbourhood Plan (bring it into force, or 'adopt' it). 1409 votes cast were in favour of the Neighbourhood Plan, and 75 against.
The Neighbourhood Plan therefore became part of the development plan for Hertsmere and will be taken into account when Hertsmere Borough Council as local planning authority makes decisions on planning applications within the area covered by the Neighbourhood Plan. We have issued our Regulation 20 Decision Notice (93kb pdf) confirming this.
Examination
In October 2019 Shenley Parish Council submitted the Shenley Neighbourhood Plan to us so that it could undergo examination. We appointed Mr John Slater (BA (Hons), DMS, MRTPI) as Independent Examiner of the Neighbourhood Plan.
The examiner’s questions and other correspondence relating to the examination can be viewed below:
In May 2020 the Examiner produced his final Examiner's Report (pdf 486kb) which recommended that modifications be made to some of the plan’s policies. These and consequential modifications to the plan’s supporting text were subsequently made. We published our Regulation 18 Decision Statement (pdf 700kb). This statement sets out our decision and proposed actions following receipt of the Examiner’s report.
The Shenley Plan incorporating the modifications recommended by the Examiner and other consequential changes proceeded to referendum on 6 May 2021.
Regulation 16 Consultation
The Shenley Neighbourhood Plan was submitted to us in October 2019, under Regulation 15 of the Neighbourhood Planning Regulations. A 6 week public consultation was held between 29 October and 10 December 2019. If you wish to view the consultation, please visit our consultation system.
Neighbourhood area designation
In October 2016 Shenley Parish Council formally applied to us for the designation of a neighbourhood area covering the Shenley Parish and the part of Shenley Cricket Club which is within Aldenham Parish. A neighbourhood area is the geographical area to which the policies in the neighbourhood plan will apply.
We publicised the parish council’s submission in accordance with government regulations. We allowed a period of six weeks between 10 November and 22 December 2016 during which interested people were able to make representations. No objections were received, and our Executive approved the designation of the Shenley Neighbourhood Area on 8 February 2017.
The minutes of the meeting are available on the council Executive meetings web page.
