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Parish Council Plans For The Future
(May 26, 2021)Heytesbury, Knook and Imber Parish Council have reacted to an allocation of 22 new dwellings in their village by the unitary authority at council hall in the draft Wiltshire Plan by setting up a Future Planning Working Group.
“After the annual meeting last week it is really encouraging that six councillors have come forward to sit on the new Future Planning working group” said Cllr. Vanesa Sturmey who proposed the idea.
“It will be studying all relevant documentation that relates to housing in the parish, consulting with others and seeking relevant information, advice and expertise to produce timely recommendations to the full council.
“The 2019 parish housing needs survey identified a need for eleven homes which were mostly social housing homes and our requirement of 22 in the Wiltshire Council local plan review will be market value homes with 30% affordable.”
The village was intending to carry out another housing needs survey to update it and councillors voted with one abstention in support of setting up the group. Its first meeting will be on Tuesday 8th June.
“I do not believe this (Wiltshire plan) will produce the types of homes Heytesbury needs, possibly in areas where people don't want them, so a way forward is community led housing which can be achieved in a number of ways,” said Cllr. Sturmey.
“These include co-housing, community land trusts, community self-build, development trusts, and housing co-operatives.
“The most important thing going forward is community engagement along the way as residents views will help to shape the future of our village, and will ensure that we get the right kind of housing for local people.”