Neighbourhood Plans are a way for local people to shape the future planning of their village or neighbourhood. They are “can-do” plans. All ages and groups of people in the community can have a real say on important local issues.

The current Plan is being reviewed by the Boston Spa Neighbourhood Planning Advisory Committee. The minutes and meetings of the group can be found at the bottom of the page.  

The Neighbourhood Plan gives us the opportunity to create a shared and sustainable vision of how we’d like our village to be over the next 15 years or so; to ensure that any new development or change fits in and contributes to the well-being of the village; and to conserve the village character and sense of belonging that we so value, especially here in Boston Spa. A Plan will help us to manage any pressures for change positively, for the good of the community. It’s about making the village an even better place, for us and future generations.

Neighbourhood Plans, and the consultation process that brings them into being, are prepared under Regulation 15 of the Government’s Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012. Our Plan covers the whole of Boston Spa Parish. All Neighbourhood Plans must be in line with the local council’s overall planning policies, in our case Leeds City Council. However, such Plans are new and different because, more than ever before, the community is at the heart of the decision-making process. Our Plan has its own distinctive local policies, with legal standing, that must be taken into account in any planning decisions. 

Boston Spa Neighbourhood Plan Review:  Creating ‘An Even Better Boston Spa’

The current and excellent Neighbourhood Plan for Boston Spa was written more than a decade ago – and the world has changed a bit since then. In order to ensure that our Neighbourhood Plan reflects the pressures we all are familiar with today (planning pressures, environmental issues, etc.) the Parish Council decided to undertake a review of the existing Neighbourhood Plan.

The current plan is still very relevant – and we would wish to retain much of what it includes. But we need to know what needs to change or become a higher priority. A review will help explore this.

The review is a process – hopefully not taking too long – and began with two open consultation meetings held in the village in late autumn and early winter, one in the Village Hall and the other at Deepdale Community Centre. Both meetings were well represented by people who live, work and visit our village, and attendees were generous with their thoughts and ideas about what would help us create ‘An Even Better Boston Spa’.

That information has been captured in great detail and will eventually be summarised and posted on the Parish Council website, and on other fora.

However, we recognise that not everyone could attend the recent meetings – so we have produced an online survey with the same set of questions posed at our two open consultation meetings.

Please have a look at it, think about it, and fill it in – you can complete your response online at https://forms.gle/92naFikzKTygVaTL9

Please let us know what your thoughts are. It will greatly inform our decision about the review of the Neighbourhood Plan and the priorities it needs to reflect. It is your plan – help to shape it!