See Community Notices for general news and announcements.
Planning in Keevil
Keevil Parish Council is a statutory consultee of Wiltshire Council (the Planning Authority) on all planning applications within the parish. Any views expressed by the Parish Council will be taken into account by the Planning Authority before a decision is made, providing the points made are relevant to the determination of that planning application. The Parish Council has no powers to approve or reject, the decision is made by the Planning Authority.
In September 2022, Keevil Parish Council adopted a Planning Policy based on the core principles of the Village Design Statement (2003) and the majority outcomes of the Village Survey (2019). During 2024, Councillors began a review (see working group page here) and the policy was revised and approved in March 2025.
Village Planning policy_2025_03_03
The NPPF changes introduced by the new government in December 2024, and the new LOCAL PLAN expected late 2025, mean there are likely to be changes to Core Policy; further revisions may therefore be considered in due course.
Planning Meetings
Planning applications are considered at the normal bi-monthly council meetings unless the deadline for comment falls between meetings, in which case an additional meeting will be convened and noted on the Meetings page.
You can search for planning applications on Wiltshire Council’s website – which now includes the weekly lists of new applications and decisions.
You can find full details of all full planning applications in Keevil going back to 2018 on the village website.
Advice: commenting on a planning application
- Latest guidance and resources from the National Association of Local Councils (NALC)
- From NALC/CPRE, see Planning Explained and How to respond to planning applications: an 8-step guide (read or download for free)
- From Wiltshire Council
- More planning support and advice from the Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE)
Wiltshire Council planning matters that affect the future of our Parish
Update on the Local Plan Examination
Wiltshire Council was informed on 20th November 2025 that, following the examination hearings that took place last week, the remaining hearing sessions in the draft programme for the examination of the Wiltshire Local Plan have been postponed, to allow further work to be completed. This is set out in the Inspectors’ letter (dated 17 November) and is available to view on the examination website.
Pausing the examination process is not ideal, as it may result in amendments and may affect the timescale for the Plan’s adoption, but it is important that the right Local Plan for the whole of Wiltshire is delivered.
Wiltshire Local Plan Examination – Focussed Hearing Session
Further to the Wiltshire Local Plan Regulation 19 consultation, the Secretary of State has appointed Planning Inspectors Philip Mileham BA(Hons) MA MRTPI and Gareth Wildgoose BSc(Hons) MSc MRTPI to conduct an Examination into the soundness and legal compliance of the Local Plan.
As part of their Examination, the Inspectors will hold a focussed hearing session in relation to the Duty to Co-operate. The Hearing will commence at 10am on the 24 June 2025 within The Civic Centre, St Stephen’s Place, Trowbridge.
- Guidance Notes have been prepared by the Inspectors to explain many of the procedural and administrative aspects of the focused hearing.
- The Inspectors’ Matters, Issues and Questions provide the framework for any further written submissions and the foundation for discussions during the hearing session.
- The Hearing Programme sets out the schedule for the Hearings.
- An Examination Website has been established and will be regularly updated throughout the process.
As a respondent [the Parish Council responded to the Regulation 19 Consultation, see below], there are three options in relation to this stage of the Examination:
- If you are content to rely on your original comments, do not intend to provide any further written comments or are interested in matters beyond the scope of the Duty to Co-operate there is no need for you to do anything further at this stage.
- If objections were raised within your consultation response to the Duty to Co-operate you are welcome to submit further comments in response to the questions the Inspectors have identified. The deadline for submission of Written Statements is 5pm on 3 June 2025.
- If the Matters identified are relevant to your consultation response and you wish to participate in the Hearing Session please let me know by 5pm on 3 June 2025. Representors requesting to participate during the hearing session are also welcome to supply Written Statements should they wish to do so, in accordance with the guidance and deadline.
Proposed Government changes to the National Planning Policy Framework
On Wednesday 14 August 2024 Wiltshire Council held a webinar about Government proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Cllr Richard Clewer, Leader of Wiltshire Council, said:
“If the changes progress in the form that they are proposed, it would mean […] an 81% increase in housing targets in Wiltshire. The changes also propose the abolition of the four-year Housing Land Supply introduced by the previous Government, reverting back to a five-year Housing Land Supply, which may affect our ability to refuse inappropriate speculative housing applications.”
The proposed changes will introduce a new standard method for assessing housing needs and will make this figure mandatory to ensure Local Plans are ambitious enough to support the Government’s plan.
If you missed the webinar, you can watch it again on Wiltshire Council’s YouTube channel.
To find out more about the Government’s proposals visit: Proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system – GOV.UK.
The Wiltshire Local Plan
The Plan sets out the vision and framework for housing, infrastructure and land for employment growth in Wiltshire for the next 15 years. Once adopted, all planning applications will be determined against the plan, making it the most important place-shaping document for Wiltshire.
Consultation for the Wiltshire Local Plan closed in November 2023. Further information on the consultation can be found here and a more general overview of the Local Plan here.
We formally responded as a Parish Council, you can download our response here: Keevil Parish Council response to Local Plan consultation_2023_11_21
A350 Melksham Bypass
The village website has a page here which it updates with news from Wiltshire Council.
Parish Council Planning Meeting Minutes
Meeting Minutes are published on the Meetings & Minutes page here.
If you need a more accessible format of a document, please email the clerk and tell us what you need – it will help if you say what assistive technology you use. Read our Accessibility Statement here.