Neighbourhood Plan

Steering group: Will Roe, Gay Sealy and Steve Woodhead.

Kington St Michael Parish Council is in the process of forming a Neighbourhood Plan.

The formal application for Designation of Kington St Michael Parish as a Neighbourhood Area was approved on the 2nd September 2015. The work of Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group can now proceed.

Neighbourhood planning is a right for communities introduced through the Localism Act 2011. Communities can shape development in their areas through the production of Neighbourhood Development Plans, Neighbourhood Development Orders and Community Right to Build Orders.

For further information please visit:

http://www.neighbourhoodplanning.org/

http://www.ourneighbourhoodplanning.org.uk/

www.wiltshire.gov.uk/planning-neighbourhood

Gov.uk

If you are interested in becoming involved with the formation of Kington St Michael’s Neighbourhood Plan, and/or would like to join the steering group, please contact Viv Vines, Clerk to KSM parish council, on (01249) 657695 or email ksmparishclerk@gmail.com. Visit http://www.neighbourhoodplanning.org/ for more information.

Please use the following Placecheck tool to identify features such as local footpaths, local heritage asses and landmarks, and add anything else that you feel the Neighbourhood Plan committee should be considering: www.placecheck.info/maps/kington2. You can also add comments and photos.

News

2023

April
After delays due to Covid, the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group is finalising the Draft Neighbourhood Plan. The Group works for the Parish Council and the Plan has been presented. The first formal consultation with the parish as a whole will be later this year.
Last year the Group invited local landowners to put forward any of their land for consideration for development. After careful consideration the Steering Group has decided not to further explore site allocations for inclusion in the Plan. This is in order to progress to an adopted plan as soon as possible and to avoid any further delay. Consequently the Group has not undertaken any assessment of any of the submitted sites.
The first consultation will be later this year when the full Plan will be available online and in hard copy. This is a formal procedure and at that time comments and observations from parishioners will be sought as part of the processes to Plan completion, when it will become a legal planning document.

2022

Protecting Green Spaces in Kington St Michael

The Kington St Michael Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group is continuing its progress on evidence collection and plan drafting. One topic of particular local interest is protecting green spaces in the parish. Through the Neighbourhood Plan, we can protect green spaces of particular importance to the local community through a designation called Local Green Space.

For a space to be eligible for designation as a Local Green Space, it has to be:

small (not an 'extensive' area),
in, or near to, the community which uses it,
'demonstrably' special to the community. This could be because of its beauty, historic significance,recreational value, tranquillity or richness in wildlife.

The Steering Group has been assessing spaces for potential suitability for designation, informed by suggestions made during our online consultation last year. So far, eight spaces have been considered for potential Local Green Space designation, including the QE2 recreation field, the Village Green in Stubbs Lane, the allotments, and land at Town Close, The Ridings, The Ham, Honeyknob Hill and by The Croft (opposite Rose Cottages).

2020
January: In May 2019 an open day was held in the village club to publicise the group’s work and to seek the views of people on the village generally, covering features which were considered important to the character of the village, likes and dislikes, and how people felt about its future.

In addition, the Parish Council arranged for a detailed Housing Needs survey of the village, which had a response rate of 51% - very high for such surveys.

The Local Planning Policy as drafted by Wiltshire Council does not require any significant development in the village up to 2026 and probably up to 2036.

From the information received from the surveys, the requirements of the Neighbourhood Plan are:

1. To retain the essential village character and the surrounding green rural environment.

2. To maintain a clear separation between the village and Chippenham.

3. From the Housing Needs Survey there is a need for 6 assisted homes and 4 private homes.

4. There is likely to be a further requirement for a small number of private homes.

5. Any development should be limited, designed and located so as to maintain the village scale, character and atmosphere.

6. The plan should seek to reduce the speed and volume of traffic passing through the village and provide additional parking where possible.

The group can now look further into detailed considerations and the preparation of a full report and plan progressing to an approved Neighbourhood Plan which will be legally included in County planning policy.

We are still small in number and would welcome new members. In particular we are in need of a secretary; if anyone is interested please contact John Hall on (01249) 750550.

2019
May: An open day was held in Kington Club, to discuss the result of the housing needs survey and any other potential development in the parish. If there is any further housing or any other development it is important for parishioners to have a say in where and how it is done.
There was an incredible 51% response rate to the survey - many thanks to all those who took part.

Parish Plan 2007

Publication of the Parish Plan was produced over two years and was published on 15th March 2007. The Plan was delivered to every household in the Parish and further copies can be downloaded here. The Plan shows the Actions, who is responsible for achieving them and the timescales for their completion. The Steering Committee thank everyone who worked on the Plan and the parishioners of Kington St Michael for their enthusiastic support.

An up-to-date copy of the Action Plan (April 2009) can be viewed here.

The Steering Committee consisted of:

Maureen Hall
Jim Hamilton
Claire Marlow
John Newton (Chairman)
Margaret Pratley
Rick Squires (Vice-chairman)
David West (co-option)