Qualifying Bodies
Communities can form different bodies in order to be able to carry out Neighbourhood Planning processes.
Parish and Town Councils
Parish or Town Councils can automatically initiate the process and submit proposals as long as the Neighbourhood Area concerned includes the whole or at least part of the parish council area. Ringway is the only Parish Council in Manchester .
Neighbourhood Forums
By law, a body or organisation can apply to be a designated Neighbourhood Forum if they provide:
- The name of the proposed neighbourhood forum.
- A copy of the written constitution of the proposed neighbourhood forum.
- The name of the neighbourhood area that the application relates to and a map of the area.
- The contact details of at least one member of the proposed neighbourhood forum, which will be made public.
- A statement that explains how the body or organisation meets the conditions contained in section 61F(5) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, as amended. In short, the forum must:
- Be established for the purpose of promoting or improving the social, economic and environmental well being of an area that consists of or includes the neighbourhood concerned.
- Have a membership which is open to people who either live in the area, who work there, or who are ward councillors for the area.
- Has at least 21 members each of whom falls into one of the categories in (b) of the same section of the act.
- Has a written constitution.
A neighbourhood area application should be submitted and designated by the Council before you submit a Neighbourhood Forum application. This is so that the we can make a judgement on how well the membership of the proposed forum reflects the neighbourhood area.
Community organisations can submit both applications at the same time, and the 6 week consultation on each would run concurrently, but there is the risk that if the neighbourhood area boundaries are changed by the Council before it is designated the neighbourhood forum membership may not be appropriate.
We will consider whether the group or organisation has met all of the requirements, and if membership comes from areas of the community that reflect the character of the neighbourhood. It might be helpful to explain how the group has addressed these considerations as part of the application.
You can apply by post to:
Planning Strategy Group
City Policy
Manchester City Council
Level 3, Town Hall Extension
PO Box 532
Manchester M60 2LA
You can also submit an application form.
If you want to discuss your application before you submit it, or if you have any other queries about Neighbourhood Planning you can email us at planningstrategy@manchester.gov.uk
Community Organisations
Community Organisations can only submit a Community Right to Build Order, they cannot prepare Neighbourhood Plans.
They do not need to be designated by the Local Authority. However, at the time the proposal for the Order is made, more than half of the members of the organisation must live in the neighbourhood area. They need to be corporate bodies, which are established for the express purpose of furthering the social, economic and environmental well-being of individuals living, or wanting to live, in a particular area.
They should also have secured the membership of at least 10 people who live in different dwellings to each other and live in the particular Neighbourhood Area. Membership of the Community Organisation as a voting member must be open to all individuals who live and work in the particular area, and the organisation’s constitution must provide that local residents hold the majority voting rights and have the majority on the board of directors.