Here you will find information about our work to prepare the Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) for Silkstone and Silkstone Common. This includes our latest thoughts on what the plan should include, as well as the supporting information and documents we have referred to.

The NDP process reached its final stage on 19th October 2023, with a referendum so residents of the Parish could decide whether or not to adopt it. In total, there were 613 votes cast, with 556 voting "yes" to adopt the NDP and 57 voting "no".  More information on the referendum process is available on the Barnsley Council website.

All of the documents relating to the Silkstone Parish NDP and its preparation are available on this website. Please email us if you have any queries about the NDP and we will respond to you as soon as possible.

The idea of NDPs is that they give local people a greater say in planning decisions that affect their area. Barnsley Council already has a Local Plan and other documents with policies to guide the development of the borough. The NDP complements those documents with the policies at the neighbourhood level and is designed to reflect the needs and priorities of the local community. Unlike earlier documents produced by the Parish Council, the policies in the NDP must be considered when Barnsley Council takes decisions on planning applications.

NDPs can identify where development should take place, set out local design principles so that buildings respond positively to local character, and protect important facilities, historic buildings, the natural environment, and open spaces. However, the NDP cannot contradict policies in other statutory planning documents, both for Barnsley and nationally, so we must consider these as we prepare the NDP policies.

Silkstone Parish's NDP sets out a vision, objectives and policies developed that take into account comments made by residents during the informal consultation on the Issues and Options paper during April and May 2021 and the Regulation 14 consultation, which ran from 28th February to 11th April 2022.  The revised NDP for submission to Barnsley Council, taking into account these comments, was approved by Silkstone Parish Council on 6th June 2022.  Barnsley Council launched a further Regulation 16 consultation on 7th October running for 6 weeks until 5 pm on 18th November.  Following the conclusion of this consultation, the responses were collated.  The independent examination of the NDP by Rosemary Kidd MRTPI began in Late February and, following responses to her questions in April 2023, Ms. Kidd made her report in May 2023.  Silkstone Parish Council agreed a revised version of the NDP at its meeting in July 2023 and submitted this version to Barnsley Council.  Barnsley Council decided to refer the NDP for referendum, which was held on 19th October 2023.  In the referendum, 556 residents voted "yes" to adopt the NDP, with 57 voting "no".  More information on the local referendum is available on Barnsley Council's website.