Earlier this year, I organised a meeting for local Conservative Councillors to raise their concerns regarding planning and speculative development in our towns and villages with the Housing Minister, helping to shape new Government laws.
While we absolutely need new homes 
for young people to move into and affordable homes - we need them in the right places for local communities and amenities.
I have been banging the drum 
to successive Housing Secretaries that Wiltshire has had more than its fair share of housing in recent years. I have been making our case to Michael Gove and I recently met with him after Cabinet where he gave me an update on the changes that he is making to the planning system.
As a direct result of the changes to the National Planning Policy Framework announced by Michael Gove, Our Wiltshire will no longer need to demonstrate a 5 year supply of housing sites as they have a local plan. This will:
Make a massive difference for reducing the number of speculative planning applications, particularly for villages and towns like Melksham which has grown quicker than any other town in Wiltshire.
Give Our Wiltshire more control to work with the community over the number of homes they are aiming to build and where so it is strategic.
