Neighbourhood planning

Important update on Neighbourhood Plan Grant Funding (November 2025)

On 12 June 2025, the Government announced that it was no longer providing direct financial grant and technical support to those communities wishing to prepare Neighbourhood Plans. You can read more by visiting the Locality website.

The news clearly has implications for our Town and Parish Councils, not just those with adopted plans, but also those working towards this, and those who now think that they need a Neighbourhood Plan. Both Councils (Babergh and Mid Suffolk) have been looking at alternate funding options, but there remain no easy solutions.   

Neighbourhood Development Plans

The Localism Act 2011 introduced a range of new rights and powers. One of these rights was neighbourhood planning.

Neighbourhood Development Plans (or Neighbourhood Plans) give local communities the opportunity to develop a shared vision for their area. Each plan should be 'positively prepared’ and ‘add real value’ at local level.

Neighbourhood Plans have statutory weight and status. Once adopted ('made'), they become part of the development plan for the designated area and will be used to help determine planning applications, where relevant. 

Across Babergh, we have 41 Neighbourhood Plan areas. Many of those Plans have been adopted, others are at an advanced stage, and some adopted Plans are now being updated. Please use the links further below to find out more about each Plan.

What is best for your community?

To help decide what is right for your community, we suggest you start by reading our Guide to Community-led Planning Tools (July 2022). An updated version of this is in preparation.

Visit Locality's website to access more information about neighbourhood planning. 

The Planning Practice Guidance website also provides information on all the key neighbourhood plan stages.

People and Place

We are pleased to have been involved with the government-funded pilot People and Place project, which will help us to help you influence and change planning within your community.

For more information, please access our People and Place webpage.

Apply to designate a neighbourhood area

Before you can create a neighbourhood plan, you will first need to apply to designate the area to which your plan will cover. 

We have created an online form (link below) which would typically be completed by the clerk on behalf of their parish council.

Apply to designate a neighbourhood area

Parish Plans and Village Design Statements

Parish Plans and Village Design Statements differ from neighbourhood plans in that they don't have statutory weight or status. Typically, they set out a broad vision for the area and are often used as a basis for preparing neighbourhood plans.

Village Design Statements provide a statement of the character and local identity of an area, and may be used to assess planning applications.

There are a number of parish in Babergh with published Parish Plans and Village Design Statements.