The two major reasons that Trowbridge Town Council has commenced a Neighbourhood Plan are; to secure a larger share of the Community Infrastructure Levy and to demonstrate, in a way that Wiltshire Council is demanding, that the town council has undertaken the work of planning for our community.
Trowbridge Town Council has engaged David King of Planning Street as our Neighbourhood Plan Consultant. The cost of the first stage of work coordinated by David King is £10,125. Of this some £5,000 was paid at the commencement of the work and the remaining £5,125 is now due.
In addition, we have incurred some administrative costs including printing and room hire at the Civic Centre and a short period subscription to Survey Monkey which will cost £100.
As part of the Neighbourhood Plan we will be required to provide an update report on the town centre Conservation Area Appraisal. This element of the work will need to be undertaken by a specialist heritage consultant and Armour Heritage are the preferred consultants. They are based in Frome and have quoted a fee of £3,725
Other work is being undertaken by Wiltshire Council free of charge, including the preparation of maps.
Locality (the organisation which runs Neighbourhood Planning support on behalf of the government) is also supporting the project with a Housing Needs Analysis free of charge.
We anticipate that we will make a grant application for £17,000 to cover all of the costs in the remaining phase of plan development.
Community Infrastructure Levy.
We have received so far this year income from CIL of £16,751.26 and are expecting to receive a further £27,000 in November. In addition, we are due to receive £55,000 of CIL from the development of the former District Council Offices site at Bradley Road by Newland Homes.
This means that we will be in receipt of sufficient funds to cover the costs of the Neighbourhood Plan.
If we had already had a Neighbourhood Plan we would have received an additional £35,000 in CIL to date.
What is just as important, is the amount of work required by councillors to input into the project including attending Steering Group meetings, reviewing documents and undertaking public consultation.
Public consultation commenced at the Country Fayre on Saturday 8th September and the survey is available via the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/88NVCTZ
Lance Allan
Town Clerk
