Wiltshire Core Strategy consultation

Further public consultation as to how Chippenham should develop between now and 2026 is being proposed for later this year.

The council carried out three months of public consultation last autumn, an important step in the preparation of a Wiltshire-wide core strategy, the blueprint for future development which will lay down how the employment and housing needs of the county can be met over the next 16 years.

The consultation brought together the work undertaken by the former Wiltshire district councils and set out the council's understanding based on the evidence collected. The consultation provided the opportunity for local communities to consider whether that understanding was right and provide further evidence of the issues facing Wiltshire's communities.

Hundreds of people visited the exhibitions and workshops that were held between October and December and more than 800 people and organisations have sent in thousands of individual comments on the proposals.

It has become clear from both the responses to the consultation and the concerns of local residents, as shown by the petition presented to the council, that there is considerable opposition to the location and amount of new development being proposed in Chippenham. New evidence has been put forward that suggests the local preference is for the area to the south of the town to be developed rather than the north.

In order to identify the best options for strategic sites in and around Chippenham, it is proposed that a further consultation is undertaken within the Chippenham area. Cabinet will be asked to approve this as its meeting on April 23.

Other responses have highlighted opposition to the proposed developments to the west of Swindon. It is proposed that a joint working party is set up with Swindon Borough Council to consider the issues relating to the west of Swindon to give the council a sound understanding of the issues regarding the area and the "substantive opposition" to the development of 3,000 extra homes.