The people of Calstock parish have given a resounding thumbs up for the Neighbourhood Development Plan.

A third of the electorate voted, 79% of whom were in favour of the plan which will steer development in the parish over the next ten years.

Cllr Alastair Tinto, Chairman of the Neighbourhood Development Plan Committee said the good turnout showed how passionate people were about their parish. ‘The community could see that our plan supports local people having homes in the right place which will protect our beautiful countryside and unique characteristics of our villages. Over 79% people voted in favour of it which is a great result for the people of our parish.’

The plan has taken a lot of hard work to write and a lot of effort from a number of people went into it over a period of years. Particular thanks were given to Kate Latham and Glenys Rooker for their initial work on consulting with the community and drawing up the policies within the plan which were fine tuned after lots more community engagement.

Calstock Parish Council Chairman, Jim Wakem said: ‘I am delighted that the community has recognised the plan and all the policies within it. This wasn’t just a plan about housing developments but recognises the features of our parish that make it so special such as the Local Landscape and Heritage. It puts a real emphasis on protecting the environment with policies on Biodiversity, Sustainable (‘green’) Tourism and Renewable Energy. Moving forward, this council will look at identifying appropriate sites for affordable homes.’

The Parish Council would like to thank the community members and councillors who worked on the Neighbourhood Development Plan; Steve Besford Foster for his sound advice and guidance and for all the people who cast their vote and have engaged with us over the years.

See more in next week’s Times