A NEW SURVEY is being launched next week to find out what the housing needs for the community are.
“The Melksham Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group need to understand what the community’s precise local housing needs are,” explains a spokesperson for the steering group. “On Monday 16th May it will be launching a special Local Housing Needs survey to ask you about your existing housing and what existing or changing future housing needs you may have.
“We will be supplementing this survey with our own highly detailed technical assessment of local housing needs based upon analysis of our community profile.
“The new Wiltshire Council Local Plan is likely to plan for Melksham to continue to grow in the years up to 2036. Working alongside the Local Plan, the updated Neighbourhood Plan can continue to ensure we get the right homes to meet our needs.
“It is vital that any new housing firstly provides affordable opportunities for our community to find homes that meet changing needs through life’s journey. This can include starter homes to rent or buy, homes for a growing family, smaller and accessible homes for downsizes and older local people, to enable us all to continue to live active lives within our community.
“To successfully influence the delivery of the right types of local housing and community benefits delivery, our plan for local homes must be built on solid local evidence. It can take the lead in allocating smaller sustainable housing and mixed use sites to provide diverse local housing and community benefit opportunities more responsively than the Local Plan can.”
The Housing Needs Survey will go live on Monday 16th May, and you can access it from the dedicated website: www.melkshamneighbourhoodplan.org/get-involved
The deadline for responses is Sunday 5th June. If you are not online, please contact Melksham Town Council on 01225 704187 or Melksham Without Parish Council on 01225 705700 to make alternative arrangements.
