The Marlborough Area Neighbourhood Plan covering Marlborough with Manton, Mildenhall and Savernake has been completed in draft form and is now moving into a formal consultation period legally defined as Regulation 14. The consultation runs from January 18 to March 8, 2021. Marlborough area residents are asked to read the draft plan along with the supporting evidence and to give their views and comments.
Our Neighbourhood Plan is a planning document with legal status and will be used up to 2036 as part of the planning application process for new developments or changes to existing buildings. It also provides a good reference document when considering other community matters. It aims to meet the needs of our community arising from public consultations and surveys. It discusses:
- Affordable housing for those, of all ages, who cannot afford open market housing
- Community infrastructure: parking spaces, medical centre, cemetery capacity, sports facilities
- Protection of our natural environment
- Landscapes in the surrounding area
- Open spaces within our communities
- Protection of our heritage: listed buildings, historical sites, buildings of special interest
- Protection against speculative and unwanted developments.
The Plan has been produced over the last four years by a Steering Group of local councillors, community representatives and residents with support from consultants – Oneill Homer, Cobweb Consulting and People & Places.
The draft Neighbourhood Plan and supporting documents are available here. You can send your comments to: enquiries@marlborough-tc.gov.uk
To find out more view the video here. Two online meetings are also being held on the following dates: Wednesday, 27 January at 7pm and Wednesday, 24 February at 7pm. If you would like to join one of these meetings please register your interest via email at: enquiries@marlborough-tc.gov.uk
Following this first formal public consultation, the Plan will be reviewed and passed with its supporting documents to Wiltshire Council where it is checked against legislation (this part of the legal process is Regulation 15).
Responsibility then rests with Wiltshire Council which will undertake a further formal consultation (known as Regulation 16) before the Plan is subject to formal examination by an Independent Examiner.
Following any amendments, the Plan will go to a local referendum later in the year, when COVID regulations allow. With a majority yes vote, the Neighbourhood Plan is ‘made’ and becomes part of the statutory development plan for our area.
Cllr Mervyn Hall, Chair of the Steering Group, said,”The Neighbourhood Plan for the Marlborough Area is an important legal document that provides protection for our open spaces and heritage while at the same time providing some solutions for the proven needs of our Community.
Without it our area is vulnerable to unwanted speculatory development and the needs of the Community are in danger of not being met, so it is very important that we get it in place and I urge you to support it.
I would also like to thank my fellow Steering Group members for the hundreds of hours of work that they have voluntarily put in to the creation of the plan over the last few years.”
If you need a hard copy of the Plan or need more information, please contact the Town Council at enquiries@marlborough-tc.gov.uk or telephone 01672 512487 or 07593 584099 or write to: Marlborough Area Neighbourhood Plan (MANP), c/o Marlborough Town Council, Council Offices, 5 High Street, Marlborough, Wiltshire, SN8 1AA
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