Issue - meetings

To ask questions and discuss local issues.

Introducing the next item, the Chairman noted the importance of public engagement at Area Boards and encouraged people to bring any questions or comments to the Committee’s attention.

Benson Miyoba from Champions in Community, a non-profit project group across 5 counties, introduced himself to the Area Board. Benson explained how as a resident in Devizes, he saw a pattern of youth offending and was later commissioned to work with a small group of the highest-risk offenders as a mentor and was also a champion of community outreach for the Football Association (FA). The Area Board, including Sergeant Wickham from Wiltshire Police, applauded the work he had been doing so far and encouraged the prospect of future collaboration.

Rowde Parish Council noted that they were still discussing their neighbourhood plan and asked what other progress there was regarding the Wiltshire Housing Plan? Councillor Whitehead responded that the Local Plan was going through the process and having completed Regulation 19 should now carry legal weight. He speculated that it would probably be finished around 2025, with Devizes, Bishops Cannings and Urchfont’s Neighbourhood Plans at a similar stage. He noted that the county was still suffering from the lack of 5-year housing land supply, adding that this was fundamentally a national government policy issue and encouraging Parish Councils to continue pressing forward with their own Neighbourhood Plans.

Responding to a query about whether Neighbourhood Plans only carried legal weight for two years, Councillor Whitehead clarified that this was only the case if the Council’s Local Plan wasn’t in place, which he denounced as a ludicrous rule but an unfortunate reality. He added that if and when problems with the Local Plan are solved, Neighbourhood Plans would remain valid for their entire lifespan as intended. Councillor Muns suggested that West Lavington Parish Council write to their local Member of Parliament (MP) to encourage him to help address the 5-year housing land supply issue Councillor Whitehead alluded to, remarking that the MP for Devizes, Danny Kruger, supported the idea and was keen to receive testimonies from constituents as evidence. 

Residents are invited to ask questions of their local councillors.

No questions for local Councillors were received.