The village decided in 2016 to try to write a Neighbourhood Plan, which would allow the village to determine additional policies which would be used by the Planning Authority in deciding planning applications in Sutton Poyntz. A team of volunteers was assembled, meeting for the first time in May 2016. Various stages of consultation and report-writing followed, and a draft Neighbourhood Plan was completed in November 2018. This had to go through several stages of formal consultation and approval, and was finally "made" in May 2020.
As part of the process of writing a Neighbourhood Plan, the villagers involved produced a number of documents:
- Neighbourhood Plan (final version)
- Basic Conditions Statement
- Consultation Statement
- SEA Screening - Screening Report, Natural England letter
- 6 Newsletters - February 2016, October 2016, March 2017, November 2017, March 2018, November 2018
- Stage 1 Survey report
- Stage 2 documents - Survey form, Housing Needs Survey form, Covering letter
- List of advertising poster sites
- Letter sent to all landowners
- Environmental reports - Green Space Assessment, Key Views Assessment
- Heritage Assessment documents - Open meeting Minute, Letter of response, Heritage assessment Report
- Regulation 14 consultation documents - Response form, Draft Neighbourhood Plan, Representations Report, Open Day Consultation record
- Place Appraisal (warning - this is a very large document)
Weymouth Town Council are currently drafting a Neighbourhood Plan for Weymouth Town, whose geographic area includes Sutton Poyntz. For information see the Town Council's site. The Town Council have affirmed that they will "respect and include" the policies of the Sutton Poyntz Neighbourhood Plan.
Neighbourhood Plan Referendum
Weymouth's Neighbourhood Plan was submitted to Dorset Council, with public consultation in January to March 2025 for Consultation. Its Referendum will be conducted on Thursday 11th December. The Neighbourhood Plan and its supporting documents are available on the Dorset Council website nd also on the Weymouth Town website.