Community Power in Planning: Melksham's Neighbourhood Plan
Our long partnership with the communities of Melksham Town and Melksham Without, started in Summer 2018, continues to deliver results against significant development pressure.
Facing relentless growth, residents sought and achieved a stronger voice in shaping their town and rural areas. Following a successful vote for the first Plan in July 2021, the community swiftly launched a review of the Neighbourhood Plan. They understood the necessity of keeping the Plan current to address new housing requirements and maintain its powerful influence.
The effort paid off: in July 2025, a successful community vote secured the second edition of the Neighbourhood Plan.
Key Achievements of the reviewed Plan:
Meeting Housing Needs: Takes a proactive approach to managing the challenging issue of housing shortage and need. By allocating around 350 new homes through the regeneration of brownfield sites in the town centre, and on green fields in rural areas. These meet local housing needs and allows the community to take a lead in shaping where development will (and won’t) happen over the next 10 years or so.
Protection of valued local places and spaces: Balances housing delivery with crucial local protections, including:
Safeguarding countryside gaps between villages and the town.
Designating 49 local green spaces as Local Green Spaces.
Melksham's commitment ensures its residents will benefit from blanced plan-led growth and protected local assets for generations to come.
To ensure its effective use, we are also continuing to work with the communities through training for councillors, enabling them to confidently apply the Neighbourhood Plan. We are also actively supporting the Parish Council in their responses to both planning applications and appeals. Find out more in our journal.
“We highly recommend Katie and Vaughan at Place Studio; the experience has been very positive. They are both extremely knowledgeable and have been very supportive of the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group throughout the whole process.
The first Neighbourhood Plan programme had stalled and from the day that Place Studio got involved they grabbed the bull by the horns, did an excellent critical review to ascertain what were the most important policies, with the necessary evidence, and then got us over the line with the Plan “made” in July 2021.
We then moved swiftly into a Review and have just successfully had “made” the revised Plan in August 2025. With the help of Place Studio, we now have one of the most ambitious neighbourhood plans in the region and would have struggled to have done so without their diligence, professionalism and expertise. Both Katie and Vaughan are also a pleasure to work with, which is always an added bonus.”