What is The Neighbourhood Plan?
The Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan is all about shaping our town’s future together. It sets out a vision and key policies for the development and use of land. While it can’t prevent all planning developments, it gives our community a stronger voice in how Shaftesbury evolves.
Our vision for Shaftesbury is clear:
“Shaftesbury will become the best example of how a historic hilltop market town can adapt and thrive in the 21st century—while preserving its unique identity and countryside setting.”
The Plan focuses on five key areas that matter most: Community and Leisure; Town Centre; Housing and Employment; History, Heritage and Design; and Green Infrastructure.
Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan Update
The Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan, approved in 2019, is undergoing its periodic update. This ensures the Neighbourhood Plan stays relevant for planning decisions and reflects the views of our community.
The public consultation period has now ended. Consultation feedback is now under review by Shaftesbury Town Council. A further update will be provided in due course.
First Review – 2nd December 2024 to 31st January 2025
The review provided the opportunity to consider: implications of various planning permissions that have been granted since the original plan was prepared, changes in national planning guidance; likely changes to local policies as indicated by the draft Local Plan that was published in early 2021; and priorities for local residents – in particular the continued work on local projects such as those found in the Sustainable Shaftesbury Action Plan.
Proposed Changes
While no major updates are needed, minor adjustments are proposed, including:
- Identifying specific sites to address housing needs.
- Relocation of the Tourist Information Centre.
- Clarifying policies to make them easier to understand and apply.
More information can be read on the Modifications Statement.
Public Consultation
The public consultation on proposed updates is now closed. The consultation feedback is now under review and a further update will be provided in due course.
Draft documents for review
First Review 2024 Neighbourhood Plan draft (small file size, lo-quality pictures, not suitable for viewing map detail)
Individual chapters (high quality, large file size)
First Review 2024 Neighbourhood Plan draft Chapter 1 (Introduction) (15MB)
First Review 2024 Neighbourhood Plan draft Chapter 2 (The Town Centre) (13MB)
First Review 2024 Neighbourhood Plan draft Chapter 3 (Housing & Employment) (21MB)
First Review 2024 Neighbourhood Plan draft Chapter 4 (Green Infrastructure) (22MB)
First Review 2024 Neighbourhood Plan draft Chapter 5 (Design & Heritage) (30MB)
First Review 2024 Neighbourhood Plan draft Chapter 6 (Community, Leisure & Tourism) (13MB)
First Review 2024 Neighbourhood Plan draft Chapter 7 (Appendices A to P) (23MB)
The 2021 Neighbourhood Plan
Information & Evidence Committee Projects The Neighbourhood Plan
Referendum Result 2021
The Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan referendum was held on Thursday 6 May 2021 and asked residents: “Do you want Dorset Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Shaftesbury to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?”
A majority voted in favour of the neighbourhood plan (YES votes: 1556; NO votes: 216). The turnout was 26.9%. More details regarding the results, plus details of the other elections and referendums that took place that day can be found here.
As a result, the plan will now proceed to Cabinet on 22 June 2021 where a decision will be made on formally making the Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan part of the development plan for the area covered by Shaftesbury Town Council (the Shaftesbury neighbourhood area).
