11th February 2017
Town Planning in Swindon
Swindon Civic Voice Event: 23rd February 2017 @ Health Hydro, 7pm
Swindon Civic Voice are hosting this talk as as part of their regular programme of events. It’s a two-hander from Phil Smith and Karen Phiminster – both planners with Swindon Borough Council.
“Counting the Houses” by Phil Smith, Senior Forward Planner at SBC
In this first section, Phil Smith will explain how decisions are made about the number of houses that are required to be built in Swindon.
He will show where houses have been built since Swindon Civic Voice asked ‘How Big Should Swindon Be’ at our AGM in 2012′. He’ll also identify planned development areas for housing, as his team work on the Early Review of Swindon’s Local Plan to 2018.
A difficult method of determining the government’s housing expectation of Swindon (“the 5-Year Supply”) will be outlined, as a basis for Swindon Civic Voice’s further thinking about the shape of Swindon in the future.
Points that Mr Smith may cover include:
- How are numbers set?
- How are locations chosen?
- How big is Swindon expected to grow?
- What is the “5-Year Supply” and how has this affected recent housing appeals by developers?)
Following on from Mr Smith’s presentation we have: “Introduction to Neighbourhood Planning” by Karen Phiminster, Graduate Planner at SBC
Ms. Phiminster will provide a short introduction to the opportunity for citizen involvement in ‘Neighbourhood Planning’, as provided under the government’s Localism approach.
With new Parish Councils forming, and Swindon expanding still, we will learn a bit about the requirements, and about experiences in other towns and cities.
Swindon Civic Voice expects to be involved in encouraging participation in ‘Neighbourhood Planning’, so this will be a short introduction to further activities.
Possible Content of Karen’s talk:
- What is ‘Neighbourhood Planning’, and how is this different from the past?
- What are the requirements for preparing a Neighbourhood Plan?
- Where have Neighbourhood Plans been prepared within Swindon?
- How have other places approached this ‘opportunity’?)
See Swindon Civic voice on Facebook:
Our open page: https://www.facebook.com/swindoncivicvoice/?fref=ts
Our closed Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/364658943571804/
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SwindonV
