Neighbourhood Plan

The Regulation 14 Consultation closed on 5th December 2022. Thank you to all who commented.

We will be responding to comments received, and setting out how the Plan is to be amended as a result, in due course. The next steps after that will be to submit a revised Plan to Wiltshire Council for a further stage of consultation (called Regulation 16) and independent examination. We will post updates on this page and in the White Horse News as we continue to move towards a Neighbourhood Plan for Westbury.

The Regulation 14 Consultation Neighbourhood Plan documents can still be accessed on this page.

Evidence Base

There are lots of documents, and we do not expect you to look at everything. You don’t need to comment on everything, just the things that are important to you. We’ve also prepared a ‘mini guide’.

The majority of the evidence base documents can be found to the right of this page. As part of the evidence base, Environmental Assessment Documents have been produced to meet some of the requirements of the ‘Basic Conditions’, which are used for the Examination of the Plan.

Both a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Habitat Regulation Assessment (HRA) Screening were made on the Regulation 14 version of the Neighbourhood Plan:

Strategic Environmental Assessment

Habitat Regulation Assessment

Westbury Neighbourhood Plan

Westbury, like several other communities in Wiltshire and across the country, is developing a Neighbourhood Plan for the town.

Neighbourhood Plans empower local people to set local policies to protect their valued heritage, green spaces and community facilities and plan for local housing, employment and community facilities. So, if you live in Westbury and care about its future, it is vital you get involved in shaping our plan.

Westbury Town Council are responsible for the preparation of the Westbury Neighbourhood Plan which is led by a plan making Steering Group with topic working groups, made up of both town Councillors and local people.

The Neighbourhood Plan team are working hard to listen to your views and build strong local evidence to support effective policies to ensure our town future development happens in the right places and delivers the things our current and future community needs.

What you say counts!

The Neighbourhood Plan is very much draft at this stage will be updated and refined as a result of feedback received during this public consultation. There will also be a further round of public consultation on the updated Plan, and an examination by a Planning Inspector will follow, with the final stage in the process being decided by residents of the town in a referendum.

On approval the Neighbourhood Plan would provide local planning policies for the town and become a part of the Development Plan that Wiltshire Council must use when determining planning applications in Westbury.

Steering Group Chair Kate Knight said:

“I encourage everyone to take the time to read the draft plan and participate in the consultation. Once it’s been refined to respond to feedback from the community, the plan will go through formal processes to gain real weight and have clout in decisions that Wiltshire take on planning decisions in our town. As such the Neighbourhood Plan will have a positive and proactive impact on the future development for our town.”

What is a Neighbourhood Plan and who has prepared it?

The Westbury Neighbourhood Plan has been developed by a steering group made up of Westbury Town Councillors and local community representatives with support from Town Councillor officers and professional consultants. A Neighbourhood Plan is a document that sets out community ideas and plans for change in a local area.

Why prepare a Neighbourhood Plan for Westbury?

In the past many communities have felt that they have little influence over what’s decided in terms of planning policy, after all, in the past it’s been done by ‘them’ – Wiltshire Council. But that’s changing, and we now have a real opportunity to shape the future of the whole Westbury area much more (but not entirely) the way we – you – us want it. Whilst the Plan cannot be in direct conflict with national or local planning policy, it does have legal weight in planning law and will reflect the views of the local community and must be used by Wiltshire Council in making planning decisions in our town. It is an important opportunity for the community of Westbury to be able to do things such as:

influence and inform planning decisions made by Wiltshire Council;
have greater control over future development (e.g. housing which meets local need, size and scale, design and importantly where new houses could go – but the number of new houses that must be delivered in Westbury in the coming years is set by Wiltshire Council – we can’t change the number but we can say where it goes);
address issues of environment and well-being (e.g. walking and cycling, protect and improve green spaces and local facilities);
be part of wider work by the Town Council to improve the town centre

Community Led

Our Neighbourhood Plan will make a difference by focusing on things the planning system can genuinely influence. Westbury Neighbourhood Plan has been drafted by drawing on feedback and input from the wider community, as well as drawing on facts, figures and local level research to inform and shape how the Neighbourhood Plan looks ahead to how Westbury will develop up to 2036.

If you have any questions get in touch via email at neighbourhoodplan@westburytowncouncil.gov.uk, via phone on 01373 822232 or by writing to Westbury Town Council Neighbourhood Plan, The Laverton, Bratton Road, Westbury Wiltshire, BA13 3EN