New plan will identify sites for housing up to 2026

Plans for the supply of land for future housing in Wiltshire are poised to move to the next stage.

The Wiltshire Core Strategy projected the need for 42,000 new homes between 2006 and 2026. By 2016 just under 20,000 had been built.

The draft Wiltshire Housing Site Allocations Plan proposes to allocate new sites for housing and to improve housing land supply across Wiltshire up to 2026.

The plan, along with the council’s Schedule of Proposed Changes, was examined in public by an inspector in April.

The inspector has now come back with some initial post hearing advice, requesting the council prepare further modifications to the plan which he will consider before they are published for consultation over the normal six week period. The council will respond in due course.

The advice includes the proposed deletion of some sites and ensuring policies for all remaining sites show how development of the site should take place so that it occurs in a sustainable way.

Toby Sturgis, cabinet member for spatial planning said: “This plan is important to ensure development takes place in the most appropriate locations in Wiltshire.

“We are grateful for the inspector’s comments which we are carefully considering and we are looking ahead to move forward with the plan to ensure we meet the needs of our communities.”