MARLBOROUGH Town Council has submitted the first formal stage of the town’s proposed neighbourhood plan by registering the areas it will include.

These will be the parishes of Mildenhall, Preshute and Savernake, as well as Manton.

In the application it reads that future, large housing developments in or adjoining Marlborough are likely to be located on or overlap with land in the parishes, which is why they will be working together.

A steering group is creating the plan and once complete residents will vote on whether to adopt it.

The application states that the areas share the same concerns of having ‘insufficient infrastructure’ to cope with increasing capacity pressures on schools and GP surgeries, as well as having little space for employment opportunities.

It also wants to ensure that growing tourism opportunities can be properly accommodated, as well as improving the ‘important vibrant economy’ of Marlborough as a retail and business centre.

The plan aspires to improve access to and protect the countryside, its rivers, wildlife and biodiversity, as well as having more affordable homes.

Residents in Pewsey and Devizes have already given their backing to neighbourhood plans in referendums held last year.

Comments can be made on the application until 5pm on Wednesday, February 24 by going to: consult.wiltshire.gov.uk/portal or emailing: neighbourhood.planning@wiltshire.gov.uk or calling: 01225 713223.