Having read the letter by Mr Adrian Rea, ‘Not Forward Thinking’ last week, the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group feel obligated to correct some misconceptions that have been voiced in the piece.

Neighbourhood planning legislation encouraged local communities to set their own vision about development within their area and, while this does place obligation to meeting housing targets set by Government, it allows influence to be exercised on where those houses are placed. In developing a Neighbourhood Plan, the onus is on the community to demonstrate their preference in order that there is evidence to support any final decision. In taking on the challenge of developing a neighbourhood plan for the Devizes area, the steering group has undertaken many rounds of consultation, which enables the development of criteria for the size and type of housing developments residents wish to see. From this criteria, a significant range of sites were measured and again consulted on which resulted in a number of preferred sites coming forward in the plan.

The Coate Road site was also included with the selection of sites available, however failed to gain much support from the community.

In developing the neighbourhood plan, one of the principal objectives of the steering group is to develop a thriving community for future generations, therefore new housing developments need to be of a size that engender community cohesion and are non-reliant on cars to access the town centre, rather than creating new satellite communities with no sense of unity with either Devizes, Roundway or Bishops Cannings. Providing homes that are affordable is essential and under the new scheme by which local authorities collect contributions from developers for community infrastructure, it no longer matters if housing developments are small or large when it comes to funding affordable housing, therefore the Devizes area will not be disadvantaged by not having a number of larger developments. Finally, the development of a neighbourhood plan has enabled and encouraged brownfield sites to come forward, which are either underutilised or in a state of disrepair, enabling them to take on a new lease of life, not only meeting the local housing needs, but also enhancing the town’s environment.

The Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group believes that it is preferable to seeing good quality agricultural land on the town’s hinterland go under Tarmac.

Whilst we accept that not everyone will agree with the principles set out in the Devizes Area Neighbourhood Plan, the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group does believe it represents the views of the majority of our community which will be tested at an independent planning inspection in the spring followed by a referendum later in the year.

Devizes Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group.