Melksham joins campaign to fight threat to neighbourhood planning

MELKSHAM’S Neighbourhood Plan steering group has backed a campaign that is urging local councils to unite to fight the risk to its neighbourhood plans from national planning policy changes.

The campaign,  led by Malmesbury Town Council, says the recent changes to the  National Planning Policy Framework and the loss of its  5-year land supply for housing by Wiltshire Council is “directly threatening” the future of neighbourhood planning in Wiltshire.

Melksham Neighbourhood Plan steering group, which comprises of representatives of Melksham Town Council, Melksham Without Parish Council, Wiltshire Council and community members, has joined over 30 local authorities to back the campaign.

The Melksham Neighbourhood Plan steering group says, “We share the concerns of Wiltshire parish and town councils  in their call on Wiltshire MPs to fight the risk to Neighbourhood Plans from changes to national planning policies.  

“We back the campaign being led by Malmesbury Town Council, who had one of the first Neighbourhood Plans adopted in the county and in fact, nationally, in 2015.

“The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) gives presumption in favour of sustainable development but these do not change the statutory status of local development plans such as the Wiltshire Council Core Strategy or local Neighbourhood Plans, and planning applications can be turned down if they do not meet with the policies in these more local plans. 

“However, where a local planning authority cannot demonstrate a five year land supply of deliverable sites, the local plan policies which are most important for determining the application are considered out of date and permission should be granted unless any adverse impacts would significantly outweigh the benefits.  

“For adopted Neighbourhood Plans with a site allocation, the plan policies still hold, even if the local authority only has a three year land supply.   Malmesbury Town Council have this current situation as Wiltshire Council cannot prove a five  year supply at present, but have been informed that their Neighbourhood Plan does not hold because its over two years old, which is under a recent 2019 change in the NPPF.

“For the Melksham Neighbourhood Plan steering group this causes concern, like other groups and local councils across Wiltshire, as we have spent a lot of time and effort working towards a made plan, that we hope will have control over the future housing development in the plan area covering the parishes of Melksham Town and Melksham Without for the life of the plan, not just its first two years.  

“We are joining the campaign, and will be writing to our local MP, Michelle Donelan, to add to the call for the planning legislation to be  reviewed.”