WROUGHTON Parish Council is urging residents to speak up about how they want their village to develop in the future.

The parish council is working with residents to develop a neighbourhood plan in order to control where developments in the village will take place.

Steve Harcourt, a member of the parish council who is working on the neighbourhood plan, said: “The parish council and the Vision4Wroughton group started working on the Wroughton Plan and we’re asking residents to come forward.

“I think a really important part of the neighbourhood plan is that people get involved and have their say. “What is on the neighbourhood plan will inform the wider local plan and determine the fate of Wroughton.”

The neighbourhood plan will set out how the village will develop, including how to preserve the character of the area, maintain the separation from Swindon, where new homes could be built and how to protect and enhance local facilities and employment.

The council has already carried out a number of consultations with residents and is working with community group Vision4Wroughton to ensure that future developments are in line with the needs of existing residents.

Steve said: “We know that we will have to have 180 houses, for example. We have no say in that. But a lot of people want to make sure that they go on to brownfield land, not greenfield land.

“That’s the kind of thing we need to know to put into the local plan.”

Swindon Council designated Wroughton a neighbourhood area last month after the parish council applied to the authority last September.

But the council and other village groups have been trying to get ahead and held its first consultation last November, followed by a display in Wroughton Library and at the Ridgeway School.

Steve said: “We have run a number of consultations and we will continue to run evenings to keep everyone informed and give them a chance to have their say.”

In the mean time, an Interim Neighbourhood Plan has been developed by the steering group, which hopes to reflect the wide section of opinion in Wroughton residents.

This work is being supported by a grant from Supporting Communities in Neighbourhood Planning Programme, which should cover the cost of producing the Wroughton Plan.

For more information about the interim plan, visit www.wroughton.gov.uk/wroughton planhome

To share your views and have your say, email wroughton plan@gmail.com

THE POWER TO CHOOSE WHERE TO BUILD NEXT

A NEIGHBOURHOOD Area gives residents the power to detail where future developments in their community will take place.

It does not prevent developments outright but it does give residents some control.

Once a Neighbourhood Plan has been approved, it will give a further level of detail to Swindon’s local plan, which will set out future development plans for the entire town.

This local plan is due to go in for examination in public in May.

Blunsdon, Highworth, Stratton St Margaret, Wanborough and Wroughton are all communities in Swindon that have already been designated neighbourhood areas.

Other communities can still apply to be designated a neighbourhood area.

For more information, visit www.swindon.gov.uk/neighbourhoodplanning