Over the past few years, Soham Town Council has been preparing a draft Neighbourhood Plan for its parish area. The Soham parish includes the settlements of Soham and Barway plus surrounding agriculture land.

For details on the earlier stages of preparing the Plan, please view the Soham Town Council website (external link).

On 12 April 2024, Soham Town Council formally submitted its draft Neighbourhood Plan to East Cambridgeshire District Council for independent examination, together with most of the necessary supporting documentation. The final document was received on 22 April 2024, and East Cambridgeshire District Council then confirmed on 22 April 2024 that a valid submitted Plan had been received.

The next step is to conduct a final round of public consultation on the Neighbourhood Plan. 

Consultation Stage - April to June 2024

In accordance with Regulation 16 of the Neighbourhood Planning Regulations 2012 (as amended), East Cambridgeshire District Council is inviting comments on the draft Soham and Barway Neighbourhood Plan and associated documents for the minimum required 6 weeks. The consultation period will be from 23 April 2024 to 3 June 2024.

The consultation is open to anyone to submit their representations.

The draft Soham and Barway Neighbourhood Plan and accompanying submission documents are available to download from the Document Library below. A copy of the draft Soham and Barway Neighbourhood Plan is available for inspection at East Cambridgeshire District Council's customer service centre during normal opening times.

To make a representation on the draft Soham and Barway Neighbourhood Plan, it should be in writing:

• via email to: planningpolicy@eastcambs.gov.uk; or
• by post to: Strategic Planning Team, East Cambridgeshire District Council, The Grange, Nutholt Lane, Ely CB7 4EE

All comments must be received on or before 3 June 2024. Late representations will not be accepted.

East Cambridgeshire District Council will process the information you provide in a manner that is compatible with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and the Council’s Privacy Notice, available on our website.

Please be aware that all representations received by the authority will be made publicly available (in due course) on the ECDC website. These will be identifiable by name and, where applicable, organisation.

Next Steps

Once the consultation period has ended, the Neighbourhood Plan and other supporting material, together with the representations received, will be considered by an independent Examiner. Further details on the Examiner and the examination process will be made available in due course.

Subject to the outcome of that Examination, the Neighbourhood Plan will proceed to a referendum stage where residents of the parish of Soham (which also includes Barway) will have a chance to vote whether or not the Neighbourhood Plan should be used to assist planning decision making in the parish. That referendum, if it is to take place, is likely to occur in Autumn 2024.

Requests to be notified of ECDC’s decision under regulation 19 of the Neighbourhood Planning Regulations 2012, which relates to the making of the neighbourhood plan after the examination and referendum has concluded, may be submitted via email to planningpolicy@eastcambs.gov.uk.