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Planning policy is used to help determine planning applications, guiding what can be built, where, and how. It is also used to plan for future needs, assessing what change is likely to happen and where, and what policies are needed to achieve this.
Latest news and information
The latest news, and further information about planning policy, is provided below.
Wiltshire Local Plan (Reg 19) consultation autumn 2023
Wiltshire Council has published the draft Wiltshire Local Plan, which is a development plan document, for a formal eight week consultation period. The consultation is running from Wednesday 27 September, to Wednesday 22 November.
This is an opportunity for all interested parties to have their say on the proposals. There will be a live webinar, and 16 drop-in events at libraries and leisure centres across the county. Further information on these events and how to submit your comments can be found on our Local Plan pages, via the following link:
If you would like to be kept informed at key stages of the progression of the Local Plan review, along with other planning policy notifications, you can do so by joining our planning policy mailing list.
To join this notification list, please follow the link provided below, fill in your personal details and tick the 'Planning policy' option from the 'topics of interest' list. The 'areas of interest' do not relate to the planning policy mailing list.
Planning policy documents are produced to inform decisions when approving or rejecting planning applications as well as to outline a vision for when and where future development in the area should take place.
All of the planning policy documents within one local planning authority area are collectively known as the Development Plan. These documents are prepared to implement plans that help address needs and opportunities in relation to housing, the economy, community facilities and infrastructure as well as forming a basis for safeguarding the environment and securing good design.
Within Wiltshire there are a number of planning policy documents that collectively form the Development Plan and these document can be viewed further down the page.
The National Planning Policy Framework (opens new window) (NPPF) is a key part of the government's reforms to make the planning system less complex and more accessible. The NPPF sets out the government's planning policies for England and how these are expected to be applied, vastly simplifying the content and reducing the quantity of planning policy pages. The NPPF acts as guidance for Wiltshire Council both in drawing up plans and making decisions about planning applications.
To support the NPPF the government produced National Planning Practice Guidance (opens new window) (NPPG) which is published and regularly updated online. The NPPG adds further context to the NPPF and replaces thousands of pages of guidance that was previously published in separate documents.
Development Plan
Development Plan documents act as a critical tool in guiding decisions about individual development proposals, acting as the starting-point for considering whether applications can be approved.
In Wiltshire, the Development Plan includes the Wiltshire Core Strategy incorporating saved policies from district local plans, Chippenham Site Allocations Plan, Wiltshire Housing Site Allocations Plan, Minerals and Waste Plans and made Neighbourhood Plans.
Within this section you will find information on a range of other documents that are produced by Wiltshire Council along with useful information including:
Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment: Information on how to submit a site is also contained on this webpage.
Housing Land Supply Statement
Housing Land Availability Report
Infrastructure Delivery Plan
On the 24 of May 2021, the Government issued a Written Ministerial Statement and associated Planning Practice Guidance on First Homes. The scheme is designed to help local first-time buyers on to the property ladder, by offering homes at a discount compared to the market price.
First Homes are a specific kind of discounted market sale housing and should be considered to meet the definition of 'affordable housing' for planning purposes. Specifically, First Homes are discounted market sale units which:
must be discounted by a minimum of 30% against the market value;
are sold to a person or persons meeting the First Homes eligibility criteria;
on their first sale, will have a restriction registered on the title at HM Land Registry to ensure this discount (as a percentage of current market value) and certain other restrictions are passed on at each subsequent title transfer; and,
after the discount has been applied, the first sale must be at a price no higher than £250,000.
Local authorities and neighbourhood planning groups have the discretion to set their own qualifying criteria as part of their plan making process, and eligibility criteria as part of section 106 agreements, if they can demonstrate a need. The purpose of the Wiltshire Council First Homes Interim Position Statement is to set out the council's interim approach to the implementation of the Government's First Homes policy prior to the completion of the review of affordable housing policies within the Wiltshire Core Strategy as part of the Local Plan. View the Wiltshire Council First Homes Interim Position Statement(OpenDocument text format)[137KB](opens new window).
The Brownfield land register sets out previously developed land that a local planning authority considers appropriate for residential development.
The Wiltshire LDS sets out the Development Plan Documents (DPDs) prioritised for production by Wiltshire Council and the timetable for their preparation that will, when complete, together with other adopted documents, comprise the Local Plan for Wiltshire.
National legislation and policy require councils in England to provide for the accommodation needs of travellers. Further information on any Gypsy and Traveller planning policies and assessments can be found via this webpage.
The SCI sets out the process and methods for community involvement for different types of plans and for different stages of plan preparation.
In May 2015, the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) came into force locally in Wiltshire. We adopted a CIL charging schedule, Regulation 123 list, Planning Obligations Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) and an instalments policy for the payment of CIL.
Economic Development and Planning at Wiltshire Council take your privacy very seriously and will keep your personal data secure. Our data protection page contains information on how and why Spatial Planning may collect and process your personal data in our role as a data controller.
Our data protection page enables you to view our Privacy Statement and Data Subject Information Notice.
