1. Caring: Neighbourhood Planning

This guidance note is for Neighbourhood Planning bodies, such as town and parish councils.

Most Neighbourhood Development Plans include policies and proposals that support distinctive character. These policies ensure that change supports a place’s identity. It helps support the reasons why people are proud to live there.

St Thomas, LauncestonCommunities want sustainable change to extend to the maintenance of inherited integrity and authenticity of their place.

This guidance relates to the distinctiveness of a place’s historic environment. This includes;

‘all aspects of the environment resulting from the interaction between people and places through time, including all surviving physical remains of past human activity, whether visible, buried or submerged, and landscaped and planted or managed flora’ (National Planning Policy Framework)

Intangible heritage also contributes to a place’s distinctiveness. Intangible heritage refers to customs, folklore, dialects, and festivals local to the area. Additionally, the local ways of doing things. This includes ways of talking, working, enjoying life or maintaining places. They should all be considered when assessing your neighbourhood.

Ideal Outcomes

• Your Neighbourhood Plan identifies particular and or typical attributes. of Cornwall and your locality.
• Plans are based on up to date, robust evidence. This has been enhanced by knowledge drawn from community participation. Evidence may include oral histories, surveys, or historical and archaeological resources.
• Thoughtful design can strengthen and reinforce local distinctiveness and sense of place. Building mass, size and detailing can be consistent with the locally distinctive contexts. A new development’s location and design can enhance historical layouts and arrangements.
• Community cohesion and sense of belonging are strengthened.

Things to consider

• Cultural identities are not static. They are not based on the past alone but go on developing as society changes and grows.
• Community-wide involvement can help define distinctiveness.
• Every part of the environment can contribute to its sense of distinctiveness. It is not limited to Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas.
• Assets that might have less significance in the wider world can be important locally. Often these represent local practices, associations and distinctiveness. Assets which may be commonplace elsewhere may be unusual and important locally. These should be respected in neighbourhood planning.

Approaches and resources

• Consult widely to capture a full range of views and perspectives.
• Understand the influence of climate and the natural environment to your area.
• Think about patterns of work, belief, leisure, and other activities. How have these contributed to the development of your community. Consider how they might continue to do so in the future.
• Establish what your community needs today. How can these needs strengthen existing distinctiveness.
• Work with experts in the natural and historic environment. Use evidence bases, like the Historic Environment Record. Consider the Historic Landscape Characterisation, and historic characterisations of towns, ports and harbours. Review existing Conservation Area Appraisals and Management Plans. Create a list of local heritage assets. This will help you to identify what the local community values, and what is distinctive of your area.
• Refer to Landscape Character Areas, defined in the Cornwall Landscape Character Assessment.
• Contact The Environmental Records Centre for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. They can provide ecological mapping and guidance.
• Consult the general toolkit on Neighbourhood Plans prepared by Cornwall Council. This includes a series of templates and more detailed guidance.

The following Guidance Notes may also be helpful:

3 Design

7 Identifying assets of local significance