VILLAGERS in Limpley Stoke and Freshford have given their backing to a joint neighbourhood plan by voting in favour at a referendum last week – making it one of the first county border-spanning neighbourhood plans in the country.

Voters were simply asked to say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to the question – 'Do you want Bath & North East Somerset Council and Wiltshire Council to use the neighbourhood plan for Freshford and Limpley Stoke to help them decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?'

The result from the referendum was 319 votes for 'yes' and 110 votes for 'no'. The turnout was 50.12 percent, with 429 people voting out of a potential 856.

Peter Wyatt, chairman of Limpley Stoke parish council said:“We had a particularly strong vote from the Limpley Stoke villagers and we are absolutely delighted. It has been a lot of hard work between the parish council here and in Freshford and we are pleased to see that it has backing.

“I believe it is the first neighbourhood plan to span county borders and I think it showed that we can work together as one community.”

He added that the process took “a little longer than expected” but said he was glad that the plan was able to highlight solutions for both villages.

The plan will inform decisions on planning applications within the neighbourhood plan area and was initially started in 2012 as one of Wiltshire Council’s front-runners to test the pioneering new approach to grassroots planning.

The parish of Freshford lies within the Bath & North East Somerset Council area and the parish of Limpley Stoke lies within Wiltshire Council’s area however the two share a common border and have a strong track record of working together.

Through their neighbourhood plan, the parishes will now be looking to protect local facilities and services, designate local green spaces and to redefine their settlement boundary to allow limited small scale infill developments.

They will also be hoping to identify a new hub for the villages which will be home to a redeveloped village hall.

Toby Sturgis, Wiltshire Council cabinet member for planning, said: “It’s good to see the people of these villages getting behind one of the first cross-border neighbourhood plans in the country. This really is an opportunity for the local community to formulate its own future both in terms of shaping development in the area and preserving those spaces the residents feel should be retained.”