Godstone Parish Council has prepared a draft neighbourhood plan: The Godstone Parish Neighbourhood Plan 2025 to 2040 (Version 2).
This plan is now being examined and will then be taken to a referendum.
Consultations and changes to the Plan
This Plan was consulted upon at Regulation 14 by the Parish Council from 16 December 2024 to 10 February 2025.
There were three Regulation 16 Consultation periods for this plan which is unusual and explained here.
An initial Regulation 16 Consultation (No1) was planned to run from 12 November 2025 to 4 January 2026. A decision was made to restart the consultation when it was recognised there had been errors sending out the consultation letter – it had not gone to everyone. Also, it was recognised that some of the comments made on the Regulation 14 Plan had not been considered by the Parish Council. (These had been received when the Parish was between clerks and not attributed to the Neighbourhood Plan). The consultation was not formally closed or halted so comments received have been forwarded to the examiner. The Parish Council was given a chance to make amendments.
A second Regulation 16 (No2) consultation was held from 11 February 2026 to 25 March 2026.
On the last day of this consultation period (25 March 2026) changes were made to the legislation regarding Neighbourhood Plans. The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 proposed changes in two areas - the content of Neighbourhood Plans (98) and the Basic Conditions (99). These changes were brought into effect by The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (Commencement No. 11 and Saving and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2026.
Because these changes were introduced so late in the consultation period, the consultation was reopened from 11 May 2026 to 25 May 2026 (No3) (after the pre-election period) so that anyone impacted by the changes had a chance to make comments on the changes or their implications. This seemed the fairest approach and was one we understood other councils were taking in the absence of any transitionary arrangements for plans in this situation.
Godstone Parish Council was asked to update its documentation to address the new legislation before this consultation. The Parish council provided this Addendum to the Basic Conditions Statement.
These changes and approach were discussed briefly with the examiner. Likewise there was brief discussion as to the appropriateness of changes and how the new legislation should best be addressed.
The plan is supported by the following documents:
Responses received
Responses received on the Regulation 16 Consultation are listed:
No survey was held for Consultation No 3 as comments were only invited where they related to the legal changes and their implications.
Letter responses Regulation 16 Consultation No 1
Letter responses Regulation 16 Consultation No 2
Letter responses Regulation 16 Consultation No 3
A summary of letter responses is provided:
One respondent made comments in the third consultation that were not about the legislative changes. This comment is below:
Plan examination
Following the Regulation 16 consultation, the above documents and representations were sent to an Independent Examiner, Andrew Ashcroft BA (Hons) MA, DMS, MRTPI.
The Examiner considers whether the plan meets basic conditions, satisfies legal requirements, and will identify an appropriate area for referendum. The Examiner is currently reviewing all the information to determine whether the examination will involve a hearing. Updates on the examination will be published on this page including the Examiner’s report at the end of the process.
On 10 June 2026, the examiner provided a document that outlines the examination arrangements.