Christmas and New Year closure information
Our council offices and phone lines will close at 4pm on Wednesday 24 December and reopen at 9am on Monday 5 January 2026.
See our service arrangements for customers during this time.
Neighbourhood planning
What neighbourhood planning is and information about Norwich Over the Wensum neighbourhood forum and plan.
What is neighbourhood planning?
The National Planning Policy Framework and Localism Act allow local people to help decide how their area should grow and change. This means people who live and work in a place can help make plans for new buildings, parks, shops, and more. These plans are called neighbourhood plans.
The plans still have to fit with existing plans for the city or region and are not intended to prevent all development in an area. Once a plan is made, the neighbourhood plan is used alongside the local plan to help decide planning applications.
Neighbourhood plans are normally made by parish or town councils. In Norwich, we do not have those councils, so a neighbourhood forum has to be set up formally and a neighbourhood area agreed upon before work can start on making a neighbourhood plan.
More detailed information on the stages of the neighbourhood planning process, and the rules that need to be followed can be found here: Home - Locality Neighbourhood Planning
