Here’s your chance to have your say in the Neighbourhood Development Plan

People in Salisbury have a unique chance to help shape the future of the city via an easy-to-do online consultation which starts today (21st July 2022).

The City Council and volunteers from the community have been meeting since 2018 to produce a neighbourhood plan for Salisbury. Now it’s time to get everyone in the city involved.

The Salisbury Neighbourhood Development Plan Group say, “We aim to protect what’s good, identify the things we’re missing, and avoid harmful developments in future.

“So the plan covers topics like planting more trees, protecting and improving our green spaces and rivers, affordable housing for our young people and for older people who need safe places to live, improving air quality and supporting our essential services such as the NHS and our post offices. In fact, it touches almost every aspect of our daily lives.”

All the documents are available to view on the City Council’s website.

Part 1 provides a non-technical summary, but for those who have a special area of interest, there are links to more in-depth coverage in Part 2. All the consultation documents are also available at Salisbury Guildhall and Salisbury Library where printed copies of the documents can be viewed.

“We’ll also have a team at Salisbury Charter Market on August 9 and September 6 to help with any questions.”

You can complete the survey on a phone, tablet or laptop. And residents can choose to respond only to the issues that concern them.

You can participate in the survey here. If you would prefer to write to the Salisbury Neighbourhood Development Plan Group please email planning@salisburycitycouncil.gov.uk

“We really want to know what you think of our draft policies. If you approve of them, we will continue to progress them, if you think that they should be changed, we will listen and make changes.

“Though we have been consulting the community throughout this process, this is our first formal consultation on the whole suite of proposals. This is where we learn whether you, the Salisbury community, support what we have prepared in your name.

“Neighbourhood planning is a process set out in UK legislation, mainly in the Neighbourhood Planning Regulations 2012 and 2017.

“Every single comment you make will be taken into account. All documents will be updated following the consultation and new documents (the consultation statement and the basic conditions statement) will be prepared.”

All final documents will be submitted to Wiltshire Council as the Local Planning Authority. Wiltshire Council will then conduct another consultation and pass those responses to an independent neighbourhood examiner who will assess the final plan and the comments and recommend that it is progressed to referendum. The examiner may also require modifications to the text or policies, or may conclude that the plan may not progress.

The final test is a public referendum, paid for by Wiltshire Council, where the Salisbury community can vote on whether or not to adopt the plan as the planning decision framework for Salisbury.

“Please Have Your Say,” added the Neighbourhood Development Plan team.