West Horsley Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group

Governance Arrangements

 

Terms of Reference for the West Horsley Neighbourhood Planning Steering Group

 

Background:

 

The West Horsley Neighbourhood Planning Steering Group (The Steering Group) has been formed by West Horsley Parish Council (the Parish Council) to manage the process for and prepare a Neighbourhood Plan for the civil parish of West Horsley. While the Parish Council is the ‘responsible (qualifying) body’ for the preparation of the Neighbourhood Plan, the plan is a document produced and owned by the community as a whole.

 

Responsibilities:

 

The Steering Group is an advisory body and as such will make recommendations to the Parish Council. The group will undertake the following, subject to the approval of the Parish Council:

(a) Prepare and implement a programme for producing the Neighbourhood Plan;

(b) Work with officers from Guildford Borough Council to ensure that the Plan conforms to national and local policies;

(c) Ensure that all members of the community and other relevant bodies are fully involved in the process through community consultation and that all relevant information is published on the Neighbourhood Planning Steering Group’s website;

(d) Obtain evidence required to support the policies to be developed for inclusion in the Neighbourhood Plan;

(e) Prepare a Sustainability Appraisal and / or Strategic Environmental Assessment and /or Habitats Regulation Assessment if appropriate;

(f) Prepare a draft Neighbourhood Plan with any revisions following public consultation.

 

The Steering Group shall not incur expenditure without prior authority or approved delegation as appropriate from the Parish Council.

 

Membership:

 

The Steering Group will consist of members of the Parish Council together with a number of co-opted members from the community.

 

A member of the Parish Council / community will act as Coordinator for the process. S/he will act as the Chair of the Steering Group and coordinate the work of the various working groups.

 

Parish Councillors must observe the Code of Conduct adopted by the Parish Council when they are acting as members of the Steering Group.

 

Members of the Steering Group must be willing to work together for the benefit of their community. They must treat other members with respect and dignity and be prepared to consider views that are different from their own.

 

The list of members of the Steering Group and their roles may be found on the Group’s website.

 

The Ofiicers of the Steering Group are:

 

Chairperson: Paul Dodgson

Vice Chairperson: Elaine Best

Secretary & Communications: Julia McClung

Treasurer: Frances King

 

The Steering Group wants to encourage involvement by members of the community and so membership will be flexible, allowing additional members to be involved as numbers and practical management of the meetings permit.

 

The Steering Group may invite other individuals to join working groups or teams to undertake various tasks or projects forming part of the Neighbourhood Plan process. The working groups or teams will report to the Steering Group.

 

Meetings:

 

The Steering Group will arrange its own meeting schedule.

 

Full Steering Group meetings will be informal in nature and will be open to members of the public if they wish to attend.

 

The Steering Group may invite individuals or organisations to attend meetings to give advice on any relevant topic.

 

Minutes of meetings will be recorded and published on the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group’s website.

 

Working group meetings will arrange their own meeting schedules and will keep notes of meetings.

 

Declarations of Interest

 

Steering Group members should declare an interest where decisions or recommendations could result in potential advantage or disadvantage, whether financial or otherwise, to them, their family or close associates.

 

In the interests of transparency and probity, the Secretary of The Steering Group will keep a record of declarations of interest which will also be made a public record on The Steering Group’s website.

 

Dissolution

 

The Steering Group will continue to meet until the West Horsley Neighbourhood Plan is completed and has reached a successful referendum.

 

Reviewing the Terms of Reference

 

The Parish Council will be responsible for agreeing the terms of reference and any relevant amendments to them. The Terms of Reference will be reviewed periodically to ensure that they remain fit for purpose.

 

5th April 2016 Version 2

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(These Terms of Reference were reviewed by the Steering Group on 13/09/17.)