Ernie Clark. Hilperton Division, Wiltshire Council.

It stands for Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment.

In line with national planning policy, Wiltshire Council prepares and maintains a Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA).

The SHLAA is an essential part of the evidence base for the preparation of Development Plan Documents (DPDs, now known as "Local Plans") in terms of providing information on potential sources of housing land.

It is an 'open book' listing parcels of land which landowners and agents have submitted to the council for assessment. The SHLAA sites have no status in planning terms and should not be viewed as specific allocations of land for future housing development.

See www.wiltshire.gov.uk/strategichousinglandavailabilityassessment for details and note that Hilperton is almost encircled by landowners willing to see houses built on their fields.

WC has received more than 1,000 sites, many of which have been included in the SHLAA.

The process of updating the SHLAA is scheduled to be completed by the end of November 2014.