Wiltshire’s Local Plan summarised

Click here to listen to Cllr Richard Clewer, Leader of Wiltshire Council talking about the newly emerging draft Local Plan.  He has positive news on requirements for biodiversity increases in planning developments (now +20%), and on reductions in the number of houses that need to be built up to 2038 (~9000 fewer than before.)  He also said that only 14,000 houses have still to go through the planning process as all the others have either been built or have planning permission.

The Plan also includes making sure that all new housing development is 40% affordable (affordable rent, social rent, shared ownership, 1st time buyer arrangements).  Cllr Clewer also said: “It’s really important that we are providing houses for families living in Wiltshire to enable the children when they move away from their parents to still be able to stay in the communities that they have grown up in”.

Semington Parish Council strongly agrees with the last point but so far it has proved impossible to ensure that it happens.  Maybe it will be easier in the future …

It is also curious, given that the number of houses needed has been reduced, that Semongton’s ‘allocation’ for the plan period has increased from 35 to 53.  The detailed methodology set out by Wiltshire Council sheds no light on this.