Dear Froxfielders and Fiends of the village,
At the meeting of the Froxfield Parish Council last night, it was brought to our attention by our Wiltshire Councillor Stuart Wheeler that the consultation period on the Wiltshire Local Plan finishes tomorrow — Wednesday November 22.
The local plan sets out WCC thinking around meeting future housing needs across the county. There is a significant section dealing with plans for the Marlborough town area and within the plan Froxfield is classed as a small village within the Swindon area.
Whilst there are no particular references to housing plans around Froxfield, there is an indication that increasing housing across small villages remains an element of housing planning.
“At Small Villages, the settlement strategy provides sufficient flexibility for neighbourhood planning groups to meet local housing needs, by a variety of means, at a scale that preserves the character and setting of a village. Reflecting the different role played by Small Villages in the settlement strategy, with generally fewer facilities and services, they do not have a scale of housing growth set by the Plan and therefore there is no explicit requirement for parishes that only contain Small Villages. However, this does not mean there can be no additional growth in these areas. As set out in other policies in the Plan new housing development will be limited to infill within the built-up area of Small Villages or should be geared towards meeting local affordable needs through exception sites, or up to 20 homes, or 5% of the size of the settlement (whichever is the lower).”
You can read the entire draft Wiltshire Local Plan by clicking the embedded link under the blue writing.
The references to the rural villages can be found on page 156.
The detail on Marlborough in particular are on pages 140 to 145.
Wiltshire Council encourages anyone with a keen interest in the Local Plan to have their say as an exercise in local democracy! (follow the blue link to a separate website).
You will need to be quick as the deadline for submissions is tomorrow! There is also much more detail about the Wiltshire CC policies in general including relating to small village ‘infill’ development:
At Small Villages infill development for housing, employment or services and facilities within the existing built area will be supported where it respects existing character and form of the settlement, does not elongate the village or consolidate an existing sporadic loose knit area of development related to the settlement.
Other proposals for development adjacent to the built area of Small Villages, as determined by the local planning authority, will be supported where they are for rural housing exception sites or first homes exception sites, or provide for local employment, services and facilities; provided that the development respects the existing character and form of the settlement and its setting.
Vanya Body
Chair Froxfield Parish Council.