Hailsham Town Council Neighbourhood Plan

Hailsham Neighbourhood Plan Hailsham Town Council (HTC) is looking to appoint suitably qualified consultants to help in the preparation of a Neighbourhood Development Plan.

Consultants suitably experienced in spatial planning, planning policy preparation and with a good working knowledge of neighbourhood planning, are required to assist the Town Council in the project.

The local planning authority, Wealden District Council, is in the process of preparing a draft Local Plan, as well as a Hailsham Action Plan, and expects that the neighbourhood planning work will both respond to and inform the content of those emerging Plans. The District Councils timetable envisages submission of its draft plans to the Planning Inspectorate for Examination in the first quarter of 2017.

It is anticipated that the Neighbourhood Plan preparation process will be carried out in parallel to the draft Local Plan / Area Action Plan timescales and will take no more than 12-18 months to production of submission draft Hailsham Neighbourhood Plan. Consultants are requested to submit a planned programme of work to demonstrate how this could be achieved and to identify any risks and/or impediments to achieving such a timescale.

The Town Council has initially set a budget of £80,000 to cover all costs associated with preparation of a Neighbourhood Plan, including consultant costs, and having due regard to grants that may be available.

Hailsham Town Council is seeking to appoint a suitably qualified and experienced consultancy to:

1. carry out necessary evidence base preparation to support the Neighbourhood Plan preparation and prepare a Report of Survey and Physical Appraisal 2. carry out comprehensive community and stakeholder engagement to inform the evidence base and test the topic themes that emerge resulting in the establishment of a Vision and set of Objectives 3. draft a set of robust policies for the topic themes that are confirmed in due course drawing upon work carried out under 1 and 2 above 4. draft the intended Neighbourhood Development Plan and the statutory required supporting documents

Additional information: Consultants submitting tenders are invited to set out their proposal demonstrating how they would undertake the delivery of this work, drawing on any relevant experience in undertaking similar projects.

The Town Council envisages that the work will involve the following Key Stages, but consultants are expected to set out their own approach to neighbourhood plan preparation. Consultants may choose to set out a different approach in their tender submissions if they believe it to be justified on the basis of delivering best practice.

Inception Meeting

Following appointment of consultants an inception meeting will be held with the Steering Group to effectively commence the commission. This will address the following: • Confirmation of Hailsham NDP Steering Group – membership, consultant/client teams, roles, etc • Reporting protocols • Agree a definitive programme for the Neighbourhood Plan project and the key deliverables • Agree initial and ongoing publicity arrangements • Agree the methodologies to be used in appraising the plan

Key Stages Preparation of a Report of Survey and Physical Appraisal Establish a Vision and Objectives Production of Draft Neighbourhood Plan and Community Testing Production of Final draft Neighbourhood Plan Submission to District Council, Independent Examination and Adoption Appraisals

Outputs and Requirements

The successful consultants must ensure that the following requirements are met:

 Attendance at and servicing of regular meetings with Steering Group throughout duration of the project  Work with Town Clerk and Town Council officer team to agree agenda and ensure circulation of agenda and reports in accordance with Town Council statute and standing orders  Production of all necessary materials, leaflets/questionnaires etc for consultation  Production of a Report of Survey and Physical Appraisal of Hailsham  Production of Draft Vision and Objectives for the town and Summary Leaflet.  Report on feedback from consultation on draft vision and objectives  Production of Draft Neighbourhood Plan  Report on feedback from consultation on draft neighbourhood plan  Production of Final Draft Neighbourhood Plan, consultation feedback and summary of methodology and consultation undertaken. Production of necessary ‘appraisal’ documents  Presentations of final draft Neighbourhood Development plan.

The fee for the project and all management associated with the study will be determined, agreed and fixed. This fee will be inclusive of all costs associated with staffing, research, printing, despatch, telephone, travel and any other costs incurred by the contracted consultant. It is proposed that payment will be phased upon completion of key stages of work (to be agreed) in accordance with the main body of the tender brief.