Call for Sites 2026
The 'Call for Sites' will be open between Wednesday 14 October and Friday 6 November 2026. This is an opportunity to tell us about any land/site for potential development that has not been submitted to us previously.
Blacon Neighbourhood Plan and Blacon Neighbourhood Development Order
Regulations 19 and 20 - Made Neighbourhood Plan and
Regulations 26 and 27 - Made Neighbourhood Development Order
Cheshire West and Chester Council decided to make the Blacon Neighbourhood Plan and Neighbourhood Development Order under Section 38A(4) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 on 7 September 2026.
The Blacon Neighbourhood Plan now forms part of the Development Plan for Cheshire West and Chester and will be taken into account in local planning decisions. The Blacon Neighbourhood Development Order grants outline planning permission for the erection of a sports and community hub building of up to 3,120 sq m floorspace on land off Cairns Crescent, Blacon. The Council has published decision statements which set out the decision to make the neighbourhood plan and neighbourhood development order and the reasons for doing so.
Referendum
The Blacon NP and NDO referendum took place on 20 August 2026, with 91% of voters saying "yes" to both the neighbourhood plan and the neighbourhood development order.
Regulation 18 - publication of the examiner's report on the neighbourhood plan and
Regulation 25 - publication of the examiner's report on the neighbourhood development order
Cheshire West and Chester Council appointed Mr Andrew Freeman BSc (Hons) DipTP DipEM FRTPI as independent examiner of the neighbourhood plan (NP) and neighbourhood development order (NDO). His reports were published on 11 May 2026.
Regulation 17 - submission of the neighbourhood plan to examination and
Regulation 24 - submission of the neighbourhood development order to examination
Examiner's questions and initial procedural matters
Mr Freeman wrote to the Council and the Qualifying Body (Blacon Neighbourhood Forum) on 19 February 2026 with some questions and to clarify some initial procedural matters:
Cheshire West and Chester Council responded to Mr Freeman's questions on 3 March:
Blacon Neighbourhood Forum responded to Mr Freeman's questions on 12 March (after an agreed extension):
Mr Freeman wrote to the Council with a further question on the NDO on 11 March:
The Council responded to Mr Freeman's question on 16 March:
Basic Conditions changes - opportunity to comment
Sections of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 will be coming into force on 25 March 2026. This is by virtue of The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (Commencement No. 11 and Saving and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2026, which were made on 2 March 2025. In relation to neighbourhood plans and neighbourhood development orders, these sections amend the legal compliance and Basic Conditions requirements. Further details about the changes are explained in the letters below.
Due to the changes to the requirements in the legislation, the independent Examiner, Mr Andrew Freeman, requested that we advise any interested persons that they may, should they wish, comment on the Basic Conditions changes. Comments were requested by 5pm on Wednesday 1 April 2026:
The Council responded to Mr Freeman's letters on 20 March:
The Neighbourhood Forum responded to Mr Freeman's letters on 24 March:
Regulation 16 - Neighbourhood Plan publicity stage consultation and Regulation 23 - Neighbourhood Development Order consultation
The proposed plan and Neighbourhood Development Order have now been submitted to Cheshire West and Chester Council and a period of publicity took place between Thursday 11 December 2025 and 5pm on Friday 30 January 2026. You can read all comments which were submitted during this period below:
Regulation 14 - Pre-submission consultation
The regulation 14 consultation ran from 25 March to 22 July 2025
Regulations 5, 6 and 7 - Neighbourhood Area designation
An application was made to designate Blacon Neighbourhood Alliance Neighbourhood Forum and Blacon Neighbourhood Area for the purposes of producing a Neighbourhood Plan for the area.
Following a six week consultation period, Blacon Neighbourhood Alliance Neighbourhood Forum and Blacon Neighbourhood Area were designated on 22 August 2023.
- Blacon Neighbourhood Forum - delegated report (PDF, 1.01MB)
- Blacon Neighbourhood Area - delegated report (PDF, 559KB)
- Blacon Neighbourhood Area map (PDF, 2.37MB)
- Blacon neighbourhood area and neighbourhood forum - application notice (PDF, 497KB)
The secretary of the Neighbourhood Forum can be contacted by email at secretary@blaconneighbourhoodalliance.co.uk