There have been a lot of acronyms and jargon terms and flying about in this department for a while.  Just in case you are as confused as I was, here is a quick round up  of what is what (The Dummies Guide to Planning )!

(Note that some sweeping generalisations are used, and absolute accuracy may have been sacrificed to brevity, here and there!)

Planning Application  - an application to the Stroud District Council, by an individual or a developer,  for permission to build.  Applications can range from a single house to a whole housing estate. Individuals and the Parish Council may comment on/object to any given application.  SDC will be sympathetic to applications that are in line with their ‘Local Plan’, but also, in future, should be guided by our Neighbourhood Plan.

Parish Plan - Some time ago ( 2011-12), everyone in Eastington was asked to fill in a questionairre about their opinions of all aspects of life oin the Parish - transport, facilities, crime, leisure, litter bins… and yes, housing and development..   This included a section on your families’ likely needs for local housing in the future, as well as how much housing you thought appropriate to this parish.  These responses, along with a follow-up ‘Housing Needs’ Survey, created a ‘Parish Plan’  - which was distributed to everyone  in 2013.  This document guides the Parish Council in deciding its  (i.e. your) priorities in all aspects of village life, including its ‘official’ responses to planning applications.

Neighbourhood Plan (NDP) -   Somewhat similar to the above,  and largely arising from it, but much more formal in tone and much more specific in detail. It is given authority  and real ‘clout’ by recent changes in government policy and planning law (the Localism Bill).  It is intended to guide Stroud District Council when considering its priorities and responses to planning applications where Eastington is concerned.  When finally accepted by public vote it becomes a legally binding document.

Local Plan - This is a much larger scale plan - developed by Stroud District Council (in response to Government-ordained ‘overall’  housing requirements etc) - covering the whole of the Stroud area.   It is a ‘strategic’ plan in that it considers the overall housing requirements for a future period of time, over the whole area -  and attempts to  decide  in advance of any particular planning applications where most of this development ‘should’ or ‘could’ go.  At the moment, the area between Stonehouse and Eastington (‘WoS’ - West of Stonehouse) is amongst the areas favoured by SDC for  potential large scale development, but our Neighbourhood Plan does not support this.  

Although the Local Plan is written by Stroud District Council, it is subject to EiP ‘Examination in Public’ - i.e. everyone should be able to have a say, and  a government Inspector oversees the process.  The Inspector can enforce changes  to the  plan based on the evidence given at these  hearings by Stroud,  by the public ( or their representatives)  and by other interested parties - such as the potential developers themselves..

The Inspector should take due note of our Neighbourhoud Plan when considering matters relating to Eastington in the Local Plan, even though it it has not yet become fully binding in law.

And finally a few more acronyms that you might have come across:-

CLT - Community Land Trust - similar to a charity, set up usually in partnership with a Housing Association, to positively implement small housing developments that are very specifically related to community requirements. A CLT will get some planning priority over commercial developers.

DSS - Don’t strangle Stroud - planning action group particularly concerned with the WoS situation.

HA - Housing Association -  Non-profit making organisation committed to building and managing ‘affordable housing’.

KER - Keep Eastington Rural - the original planning action group which was the main impetus for (re)inventing  ECN  way back in 1989.

SPA    - ‘Strategic Planning Alliance.  This is a relatively new association of Eastington, Standish and Stonehouse to pool ideas and resources, particularly  in relation to resisting the WoS large scale development.

OAHN - Objectively Assessed Housing Needs -

ONS   -  Office of National Statistics (who provide the statistics used to calculate overall housing need in the future etc. )