Wiltshire Council is due to make its final decision on the Community Governance Review for Calne Without Parish in October this year, if the current proposals are agreed and ratified by the LGBCE then the parish changes will take place in May 2025.
Below - the Steering Group answer some questions linked to this issue, which has been raised as a concern by the local community through our consultations as we work on the review of the Calne Community Neighbourhood Plan.
Q. What happens to the Neighbourhood Plan and is all the consultation and work that is going on at the moment worth it?
Yes, we hope so! Provided the review of the Neighbourhood Plan is completed by May 2025 it will become planning policy for the physical area that it covers and can be used in the consideration of planning applications. After May 2025 the plan’s policies will continue to operate in those areas until such time as new Parishes produce a new Neighbourhood Plan.
Q. Should the current Council be making policies that will be left to others to implement?
The policies being drafted for the revised Neighbourhood Plan are being done in full consultation with the community and those that currently represent them decide whether they are taken forward and presented to Wiltshire Council and then for independent examination. Residents get the final decision on whether the plan comes into force through a referendum.
It is also the intention of the CCNP Steering Group to engage with those Parishes that will have the policies to take forward post 2025. Hopefully the revised plan will have better policies for the rural areas to help the communities get the facilities they want and need, encourage a sustainable local economy while protecting the beauty of the landscape and peace of the countryside. The new Council’s post 2025 may decide to adopt the policies for the whole of their Parish through revisions of their own Plans but also can change them in the same way.
Q. What about proposals for large housing or employment development on the outskirts of Calne?
Speculative developments brought forward by developers are not controlled by the review of the Neighbourhood Plan and everyone has the right to submit their views to Wiltshire Council in the normal way.
Any development policies in the revised Neighbourhood Plan will be fully consulted on and the Parishes involved have not only informal consultation but the two formal stages and the independent examination to put forward reasons for change if they are not in agreement.
Q. Should I bother to get involved with the review of the Neighbourhood Plan?
If you don’t voice your opinion, we don’t know your views. Others will certainly voice theirs. The Neighbourhood Plan can’t fix everything but hopefully with your support and involvement the new plan can help shape our area, safeguard the things that we treasure and bring forward the facilities that our community needs.