Westbury is expected to see limited impact from Wiltshire Council’s withdrawal of its draft Local Plan, with local neighbourhood planning leads saying the town’s position is largely unchanged.
Wiltshire Council agreed to remove its Local Plan (2020-2038) from the independent examination process at a Full Council meeting on 19th May following a narrow vote. Inspectors had indicated the plan was unlikely to pass in its current form.
The plan, which Wiltshire Council started preparing in 2017, set out where new housing should be delivered across Wiltshire. Inspectors said it did not allocate enough land to meet housing need, relied on uncertain new settlements and failed to align delivery with areas of demand.
During the debate, councillors were divided over the decision, with Liberal Democrat members supporting withdrawal of the plan while some Reform UK and Conservative councillors argued it should instead be submitted and revised in parallel with new work.
While the withdrawal has raised concerns in some parts of the county about the potential for speculative development on unallocated sites, Westbury’s neighbourhood planning lead says the town is not in the same position.
Neighbourhood Plan Project Lead Phil McMullen said, “It doesn’t make a huge difference to us in Westbury, primarily because we’re already working on our second Neighbourhood Plan.
“Our first one, which is in place already, which is a ‘made plan’, doesn’t actually have any housing allocations in it, and that’s the thing that’s upsetting everybody, the fact that the housing allocations are being bulldozed.
“However, Westbury Town, which is the area I’m concerned about, doesn’t actually have a huge amount of options for speculative development.”
Wiltshire Council has said it will now begin work on a new Local Plan under updated national planning requirements.
