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Wraxall and Failand to develop Neighbourhood Plan

Ashley Cartman • Jul 23, 2021

Parish Council leads work to develop Neighbourhood Plan in face of development threat

As the Council develops its Local Plan in response to a Government imposed target to build 20,000 more homes in North Somerset over a fifteen year period Wraxall and Failand Parish Council have decided to develop their own Neighbourhood Plan. Work on the plan, which started earlier this year, could take up to 2 years and will be key in shaping the area for years to come. 

Neighbourhood Plans were introduced by the Coalition Government with the aim of giving  'communities direct power to develop a shared vision for their neighbourhood and shape the development and growth of their local area'. Usually developed by Town and Parish Councils (Long Ashton Parish has one) they allow for more influence as to where new homes are located, the design of new buildings, as well as what infrastructure should be provided. 

It's also important to note that Neighbourhood Plans are not a way to block all development, rather they are a way for a community to shape any development that may happen and to ensure that the right infrastructure is put in place. By having a Neighbourhood Plan Wraxall and Failand Parish Council would also be entitled to 25% of the revenues from the Community Infrastructure Levy (commonly known as CIL) as opposed to the 10% they currently receive. These funds are retained by the Parish Council to be spent on local infrastructure., although the amounts can be large they are not big enough to address larger infrastructure demands for things such as roads and doctors surgeries. However, the amount received can be in the tens of thousands (it all depends on the size of any development). You can read more about Neighbourhood Plans here. 

Ultimately before any plan can be adopted it needs to be approved in a referendum of local residents. In the meantime there is a lot of work to do and I, as of the two local North Somerset Councillors, we be helping in any way I can. If you are interested too (and volunteers are needed!) then I suggest you contact the Parish Council via their website.

If you want to keep up to date on local issues in and around Long Ashton, Failand, Wraxall, and Leigh Woods then please sign up to my newsletter. It comes out (roughly) monthly and is a summary of all the articles I post on this website and social media.


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