I have been asked several times during the past days for my opinion on which way to vote?
This is not something I would normally advise on, but on this occasion it is not straightforward.
The question we will be asked is do we want Wiltshire Council to take into account the neighbourhood plan when looking at planning applications?
Ordinarily, the answer is “yes” since we would have expectations for the Plan.
However, Wiltshire Council does not have a Five-Year Housing Land Supply (a 5YHLS is a planning mechanism in the UK where local councils must prove they have enough specific, deliverable housing sites to meet their projected housing needs for the next five years). What we have learned with Widham Farm and then South Paven Farm is that even if Wiltshire Council refuses a planning application because it is inappropriate, for one reason or another, when there is no 5YHLS a planning inspector will be minded to approve an application anyway.
In fact, with Widham Farm and then South Paven Farm, Wiltshire Council did not even bother to turn up to the Appeals to contest them; it simply knew that it would waste taxpayers’ money in doing so. It was a foregone conclusion that the Inspector would approve an application simply because the Council did not have a 5YHLS.
Indeed, with a current 2.8 years of 5YHLS Wiltshire Council is likely not to have a 5YHLS for some time to come. This means that any half-decent planning application is likely to be approved, even if there is a Neighbourhood Plan in place.
However, as Wiltshire Council gradually and incrementally moves towards a 5YHLS then, arguably, a Neighbourhood Plan would come into its own and have some value.
So, whilst voting for a Neighbourhood Plan is not likely to yield benefits immediately, it may do further down the line.
