Wincanton Areas Visited by Neighbourhood Plan Group
A group visited a number of areas around the town on Friday 12th February in the latest phase of producing the town’s Neighbourhood Plan.
The process, called a Placecheck, is a facilitated series of short visits to areas of land which could be used for housing and/or employment in future.
Areas visited included The Tythings, Windmill Hill, New Barns and County Council owned land south of the A303.
The participants noted positive features such as key views, special landscape and Listed buildings, as well as highlighting potential issues with any future development, including visual impact, flood risk and highways access.
The intention is to facilitate the right kind of development for Wincanton’s future, keeping its working town character, and channel any such development to the areas that cause the least impact to the wider town.
The group consisted mainly of Town Councillors with a District Councillor and local SSDC Officer, along with Planning and Landscape experts.
The results of the Placecheck will form one part of the Evidence Base of the Neighbourhood Plan, which the group expects to consult on this summer.
Matt Day, Coordinator for the Plan, explained the direction of the document:
“We are highlighting what is special for the town, and addressing issues where housing and employment uses conflict.
“The Plan will suggest areas where employment uses - better quality warehousing, offices and some light industrial units - that retain or create jobs in the town, can be delivered. It won’t allocate specific land, as this will be picked up in the Local Plan Review, but we hope the Neighbourhood Plan will encourage developers to come forward with suitable employment developments that are likely to be supported by local businesses and residents.
“On housing, our evidence is suggesting that we should set out more clearly what would be a suitable mix of housing types in any future developments, which would include smaller homes for older people (including bungalows) and starter homes.”
The Placecheck report can be viewed in the Neighbourhood Plan section of the Town Council website at www.wincantontowncouncil.co.uk.
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