PEOPLE in the Malmesbury area have voted overwhelmingly in favour of adopting neighbourhood plan which will give them a far greater say in the future development of their town and villages.

In Wiltshire’s first referendum of its kind some 90 per cent of those who went to the polls last Thursday voted in favour of adopting the recently drawn-up document as a template for local planning issues.

A total 1,961 voters in Malmesbury and the adjoining parishes of Brokenborough and Malmesbury St Paul Without – almost one in three eligible – took part in the pioneering referendum.

Asked the question: “Do you want Wiltshire Council to use the neighbourhood plan for Malmesbury to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?” a total 1,768 responded “yes” with 190 saying “no.”

Politicians of all parties applauded the public’s decision to endorse what was described as a “local plan for local people made by local people.”

A string of similar referendums will take place all over Wiltshire in the months and years to come.

John Gundry, Malmesbury town councillor and A member of St Paul Malmesbury Without Residents' Association Committee, said: “It gives us the opportunity to say where we want housing to be located and also acts to limit the number of housing.

“Without a Neighbourhood Plan we would be in the sorry situation of towns like Calne and Tetbury where developers can just build what they want and where they want and there’s no protection.

“With our Neighbourhood Plan growing and gathering weight and getting to be in place we can say ‘261 houses and no more’ and ‘this is where they go.’ We are going to give the community an opportunity to say how they want development to proceed.”

Parish councillor Roger Budgen stressed that the plan also protected the rural nature of the two parishes Brokenborough and Malmesbury St Paul Without.

The Neighbourhood Plan was drawn-up following major public consultations over how local people wanted the Malmesbury area to grow over the next 12 years in order to maintain its character while also catering for a growing and older population.

Wiltshire Council says the neighbourhood planning gave communities “more control over the future of their area by giving local people the chance to have their say on what happens where they live.”

Such plans can include local priorities, planning policies, proposals for improving an area or providing new facilities or infrastructure and allocation of key sites for development.

The full Malmesbury Plan and other relevant documents can be seen at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/npfrontrunners