Wiltshire: A planning consultant’s view

Wiltshire District is an interesting area to work in and we have been providing planning consultancy services on residential, commercial and householder development projects for over 12 years.

Undoubtedly a beautiful area, in planning terms it has unique challenges. Large swathes of the district are within the Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty of: Cranborne Chase & West Wiltshire Downs, North Wessex Downs, and the Cotswolds. The district is characterised by its rural nature.

This article seeks to provide an overview of the latest planning issues and considerations for the area.

Wiltshire Council – adopted local plan position

Wiltshire Council’s development plan comprises the: Wiltshire Core Strategy (incorporating saved policies from district plans) (adopted January 2020), Chippenham Site Allocations Plan (adopted May 2017), Wiltshire Housing Site Allocations Plan (adopted February 2020), Mineral and Waste Plans and made Neighbourhood Plans. The LPA uses these documents as the primary framework for consideration when deciding applications.

Wiltshire Council – latest emerging local plan position

In line with a Government requirement for Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) to review their plans every 5 years, a Local Plan review is currently underway.

Public consultation on the preparation of the plan took place between January and March 2021.

Publication of a plan for pre-submission consultation and preparation for submission following consultation is targeted for late 2022 and early 2023 respectively. Adoption is anticipated for the end of 2023.

5 year housing land supply and housing delivery in Wiltshire

Wiltshire is split into different different Housing Market Areas (HMAs). As of April 2019 the three HMAs had the following housing land supply:

• East Wiltshire HMA: 5.35 years
• North and West Wiltshire HMA: 4.29 years
• South Wiltshire HMA: 4.71 years

As of December 2020, Wiltshire as a whole could only demonstrate a supply of 4.5 years – a shortfall of around 900 homes.

Wiltshire has a housing delivery score of 141% which demonstrates it has provided over its required housing delivery target in the last three years.

Building in Wiltshire – what this means for landowners and developers

Now is the time to pursue housing development in Wiltshire!

The lack of a current 5 year housing land supply is an important consideration. Indeed, there a several recent examples of planning applications having been refused by the LPA, subsequently securing permission at appeal due to the Council’s lack of housing supply. For example, the Planning Inspector in an appeal decision from November 2021 stated:

The Council will be required to rely on windfall sites, such as this site, in the absence of a housing land supply…The persistent shortfall in market housing is not insignificant and there is a substantial shortfall in affordable housing. There is no obvious remedy to the shortfall and this overall position indicates that the development plan is failing to meet its strategic challenges. Thus, its settlement strategy and limits of development are not working effectively. These policies are therefore of limited weight, as is the conflict with them.

Even with the associated planning challenges of the district land designations, and specifically the AONBs, there is plenty of opportunity for considered development which respond well to local context.

How we can help you

Our team regularly helps landowners and developers promote land for development and we can assist in a variety of ways, including:

1. Providing planning consultancy assistance with planning applications and planning appeals;
2. Strategy advice; and
3. Local plan representations.

Contact our team via enquiries@plainview.co.uk or call us on 01242 501 003 to see how we can best assist you, providing the site address and a brief overview of your project. We value your privacy and any information you provide will not be shared outside of our company and will only be used in relation to your enquiry.

Content correct at the time of publication. For the most up-to-date advice or to discuss your project, please contact our team directly.

Key resources:

Wiltshire Council – Housing Land Supply Statement (December 2020)