Residents of Wimborne St.Giles, Colehill, Tincleton, West Knighton, West Stafford and Woodsford have the opportunity to shape their community through the development of three new Neighbourhood Plans.
Dorset Council has approved requests from Colehill Parish Council, Knightsford Parish Council and Knowlton Parish Council respectively for the designation of a Neighbourhood Area, which is the first formal stage of preparing a plan.
The application from Knowlton includes consent from Cranborne & Edmondsham Parish Council and the Vale of Allen Parish Council where the area extends into these adjacent parishes.
A Neighbourhood Plan aims to give residents more control over their local area, when plans for new homes, shops and offices in their town or village are considered.
Once each plan is written, it will be consulted on locally and submitted to Dorset Council for independent examination. It will also be subject to a local referendum to make sure it has the support of local people.
Cllr David Walsh, Dorset Council’s Portfolio Holder for Planning, said: “I am pleased that these communities have taken the initial step to prepare a Plan for their areas. Well done to everyone involved in getting to this stage.
I know how much work it takes to pull together a Neighbourhood Plan, but the benefit of having more influence over Planning decisions in your community make the effort worthwhile. I would encourage anyone with an interest in the future development of these villages to look at the available information and engage with their Neighbourhood Plan steering group.”
The Wimborne St Giles, Colehill and Knightsford Plan areas can be viewed on the Dorset Council Neighbourhood Plans in progress pages online.
- Residents of Wimborne St Giles who are interested in helping with the preparation of the Neighbourhood Plan can contact Mrs Lisa Goodwin, parish clerk. As the Wimborne St Giles area is unique and not the parish boundary, people may wish to view the map.
- Residents of Colehill who are interested in helping with the preparation of the Neighbourhood Plan can contact Zoe Caddy, parish clerk. The Colehill map is available to view online too.
- Residents of Tincleton, West Knighton, West Stafford and Woodsford who are interested in helping with the preparation of the Neighbourhood Plan can contact Ms Emma Selway, parish clerk. The Knightsford map may also be of interest.
Any parish council or parish meeting that might be interested in forming a neighbourhood plan should contact Neighbourhoodplanning@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk for more information.
