Wiltshire’s town and parish councils are suffering because of significant loopholes in planning legislation. These mean that carefully drafted Neighbourhood Plans can be over-ruled unless Wiltshire Council is able consistently to maintain five years’ worth of available housing land. Currently, Wiltshire does not have that critical five–year supply, which means that aggressive developers are challenging Neighbourhood Plans as soon as they are two years old. The town and parish councils say what was the point of communities working hard to produce Neighbourhood Plans only to find that after two short years the locally agreed policies can be over-turned.
Wiltshire’s town and parish councils are suffering because of significant loopholes in planning legislation. These mean that carefully drafted Neighbourhood Plans can be over-ruled unless Wiltshire Council is able consistently to maintain five years’ worth of available housing land. Currently, Wiltshire does not have that critical five–year supply, which means that aggressive developers are challenging Neighbourhood Plans as soon as they are two years old. The town and parish councils say what was the point of communities working hard to produce Neighbourhood Plans only to find that after two short years the locally agreed policies can be over-turned.