Making the Plan 

At the meeting on 16 September 2015, Full Council approved that following the successful Referendum in July, the Wolverton Town Centre Neighbourhood Plan should become part of the Development Plan for Milton Keynes.

The policies in the Neighbourhood Plan will now be used alongside the Local Plan and the Core Strategy when considering development proposals within the area of Wolverton Town Centre covered by the plan. 

The Decision Statement (PDF, 37KB) and the papers from the Full Council meeting where the Plan was made can be viewed on the Council's Modern.Gov system.

The final Wolverton Town Centre Neighbourhood Plan can be viewed here. (PDF, 4.2MB)

Referendum Result

Voters in the referendum held on the Wolverton Town Centre Neighbourhood Plan on 30th July 2015 agreed that the plan should be used to help determine planning applications in the area. 1,452 people said Yes (a 90.2% majority), with 153 voting No.  The full results can be seen in the official declaration (PDF, 10KB).

The next stage in the process is for Cabinet to recommend to Full Council that the Wolverton Town Centre Neighbourhood Plan is ‘made’ and will therefore become part of the development plan.

It is intended that this decision will take place at the Council meeting of 16th September 2015, and the papers will be included on the Modern,Gov pages in due course. 

Referendum Information, June 2015

A Referendum relating to the making of the Wolverton Town Centre Neighbourhood Plan will be held on 30th July 2015.

The question which will be asked in the Referendum is: 'Do you want Milton Keynes Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan for the Wolverton Town Centre Area to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?' 

The Referendum area is identified on the map in the link below.  The Referendum area is wider than the area which has been designated as the Wolverton Town Centre Neighbourhood area. The Referendum area is the whole of Wolverton and Greenleys Parish.

• Map of the Wolverton Town Centre Neighbourhood Plan Referendum Area (PDF, 741KB)

A person is entitled to vote in the Referendum if on 30 July 2015

• he or she is entitled to vote in an election of any Councillor of Milton Keynes Council whose area is in the Referendum area; and
• his or her qualifying address for the election is in the Referendum area.

A person's qualifying address is, in relation to a person registered in the register of electors, the address in respect of which he or she is entitled to be so registered.

The Referendum expenses limit that will apply in relation to the Referendum is £2,911. The number of persons entitled to vote in the Referendum by reference to which that limit has been calculated is 9,305.

The Referendum will be conducted in accordance with procedures which are similar to those used at local government elections.

A copy of the specified documents, that is those documents listed below, may be inspected at:

• Civic Offices, Central Milton Keynes, Monday to Friday between the hours 8.45am to 4.45pm;
• Wolverton Library - see the opening hours here.
• Central Milton Keynes library - see the opening hours here.

In addition, the specified documents are:

• the draft Wolverton Town Centre Neighbourhood Plan, Referendum Version; (PDF, 4.2MB)
• the report of the independent examiner into the Neighbourhood Plan; (PDF, 645KB)
• a summary of the representations submitted to the independent examiner; (PDF, 79KB)
• a statement of the Local Planning Authority's satisfaction that the draft Neighbourhood Plan meets the basic conditions specified by statute and complies with the provision made by or under Section 38A and 38B of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (PDF, 26KB)
• a statement that sets out general information as to town and country planning including neighbourhood planning and the referendum (PDF, 122KB).

April 2015 Update

Milton Keynes Council (MKC) has received the Examiner’s report on the Wolverton Town Centre Neighbourhood Plan, submitted to MKC by Wolverton and Greenleys Town Council in November 2014. The Examiner, Mr Chris Collison, has recommended that the Wolverton Neighbourhood Plan, as modified by his recommendations, should now proceed to referendum.  He has also concluded that the plan, if amended in line with his recommendations, meets all the statutory requirements including the basic conditions test. A copy of the Examiner's Report (PDF, 645KB) can be viewed via this webpage.

What happens next?

The Council will arrange for the modifications to be made to the Plan. A report will be prepared for MKC to agree the modifications, that the Plan meets basic conditions and can proceed to referendum. It is anticipated that this report will be subject to a Delegated Decision by the Portfolio Holder for the Public Realm, in June 2015. Subsequently, the referendum will take place at the end of July. The Examiner has recommended that the referendum will cover the whole of the Wolverton and Greenleys Parish.

March 2015 Update

Following the close of the publication period for the submitted Wolverton Town Centre Neighbourhood Plan, Milton Keynes Council and Wolverton and Greenleys Town Council appointed Mr Chris Collison to undertake the examination into the plan.

He is currently considering the responses received during the publication period and assessing the submitted plan against the basic conditions for neighbourhood plans.

Further details about the examination process will be added here, when available.

January 2015 Update

In November 2014, Wolverton and Greenleys Town Council submitted their draft Neighbourhood Plan to Milton Keynes Council, in accordance with Regulation 15 of the Neighbourhood Plans (General) Regulations 2012.

Following a delegated decision on Tuesday 16 December 2014, Milton Keynes Council agreed to publish the plan for a period of consultation.

The Wolverton Town Centre Neighbourhood Plan will therefore be available for comment for six weeks between Wednesday 7 January and Wednesday 18 February 2015.

For further information on the consultation, including how to make comments, and to read the submitted plan and its accompanying documents please use the links below:

• Wolverton Neighbourhood Plan - Submission Version November 2014 (PDF, 13.2MB)
• Wolverton Neighbourhood Plan - Basic Conditions Statement November 2014 (PDF, 412KB)
• Wolverton Neighbourhood Plan - SA/SEA November 2014 (PDF, 3MB)
• Wolverton Neighbourhood Plan - Consultation Statement November 2014 (PDF, 16.6MB)
• Wolverton Neighbourhood Plan - Publicity and how to make comments - January 2015 (PDF, 89KB)

November 2013 Update

Wolverton and Greenleys Town Council published their draft Wolverton Town Centre Neighbourhood Plan for consultation, in accordance with Regulation 14 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 during June and July 2013.

Following this consultation, an additional policy relating to town centre retail and shopfront design was drafted.  Consultation on this new policy is being undertaken until Friday 29 November 2013.

For details of this new policy and how to respond to the Town Council’s consultation, please visit the Wolverton website.

After this consultation, the Town Council intends to submit the whole plan to Milton Keynes Council. At this point it will be published for comment, before progressing to examination by an independent examiner and, if successful at examination, to referendum.

May 2013 Update

Wolverton and Greenleys Town Council have published their draft Wolverton Town Centre Neighbourhood Plan for consultation, in accordance with Regulation 14 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012.

The consultation runs until Monday 15 July 2013. 

September 2012 update

Following a delegated decision, by the relevant cabinet member, on the 25 September 2012, the area put forward by Wolverton and Greenleys Town Council in their Neighbourhood Plan Area Application has now been approved as a Neighbourhood Plan Area.

To comply with regulation 7 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012, Milton Keynes Council is publicising the following details:

• The name of the Neighbourhood Area: Wolverton Neighbourhood Area.
• The name of the relevant body who applied for the designation: Wolverton and Greenleys Town Council
• A map of the designated area can be viewed at Wolverton Neighbourhood Area Map (PDF, 298KB)
• The relevant Delegated Decision Report and decision note can be viewed at: Delegated Decision 25 September 2012

Submission and Consultation

In June 2012 Wolverton and Greenleys Town Council applied to Milton Keynes Council, in accordance with the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012, to designate a Wolverton Neighbourhood Plan Area.

The application and a statement explaining why and how Wolverton and Greenleys Town Council intends to prepare a Neighbourhood Plan, and how the organisation and area meet the conditions of Section 61G(2) and 61F(5) of the Town And Country Planning Act, 1990 can be viewed at:

• Wolverton Neighbourhood Plan Application (PDF, 1.7MB)

In accordance with Regulation 6 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 Milton Keynes Council consulted residents and other interested stakeholders on this application. The Consultation ran for a 6 week period from Wednesday 13 June to Wednesday 25 July 2012. A copy of the consultation statement can be viewed at the link below.

• Wolverton Neighbourhood Area Application Consultation statement (PDF, 16KB)

This was not a consultation on the Neighbourhood Plan itself, but merely the identification of the area for which the parish or town council wished to prepare a neighbourhood development plan.

Following the close of the 6 week consultation period, Milton Keynes Council considered all the comments received and prepared a report and recommendation to take to the Delegated Decision on the 25 September 2012.