The Neighbourhood Plan Monitoring Sub-Committee have published an Annual Report which reveals how the Neighbourhood Plan has been used in its first year of existence. 

The Annual Report covers the period 1 June 2024 – 31 May 2025 and its purpose is to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the Neighbourhood Plan during this period. Monitoring data was collected (published in three monitoring reports) in order to inform the Annual Report findings.

The headline findings from the Annual Report are as follows:

The Plan’s policies were used on 112 occasions by the Local Planning Authority (LPA) in assessing planning applications in Chippenham

The most frequently used Plan policies were Policies H2 (Housing Design) and TC4 (Development in Chippenham Conservation Area)

The Sub-Committee considers that the LPA applied the right Plan policies in the assessment of planning applications in the majority of instances (85% of the time)

The Sub-Committee considers that the LPA determined planning applications in accordance with a relevant Plan policy 66% of the time

The LPA cited Plan policies in the refusal of 6 planning applications

The Planning Inspectorate cited Plan policies in the dismissal of 2 appeals

Two projects (tree planting and bus shelter reglazing) were delivered to help meet two of the stated Plan infrastructure requirements, with other projects ongoing

A campaign to promote the Shopfront Design Guide was carried out with shop owners and tenants in the town centre

The Annual Report can be read in full under the ‘Plan Documents’ section of this website.