Ernie Clark. Hilperton Division, Wiltshire Council.

The WC Cabinet has approved the draft planning strategy.

Wiltshire Council's Cabinet has approved the county's draft planning strategy document which will set out housing and employment allocations up to 2026. There will be a phase of consultation over the summer before the policies are finalised.

Council leaders have been asked to approve an additional stage of consultation on a document which would help form the draft Wiltshire Core Strategy (WCS) - a plan which sets out long-term planning and development aims and principals for the county.

The WCS consultation document details the amount of new employment land to support job growth and suggests figures for new homes required over the next 15 years to ensure the county's community areas can grow in a way that meets the needs of local people.

People will be encouraged to comment on the consultation document from June 13 until August 8.

The WCS process was delayed following the government's announcement of its intention to revoke regional spatial strategies - binding housing targets set by government. As a result of the announcement, Cabinet decided that Wiltshire's housing requirement should be reviewed.

This has now been carried out and consequently the consultation document includes a reduction in the number of new homes required in Wiltshire over the next 15 years from the government target of 44,400 to the council's assessment of 37,010. Approximately half of the homes required have already been completed or are in the process of being developed.