WARMINSTER Labour Party is not happy with the Warminster Neighbourhood Plan in its current form and is urging the local community to vote against it at a referendum on Thursday, November 10.

At a meeting held on Friday (October 28) members of the party agreed that they will vote no to the plan at the referendum and think residents should do the same.

Tony Free, who attended the meeting, said: "The housing waiting lists were savaged several years ago by the county council in an attempt to conceal the level of desperate housing need.

“Now with this plan they are trying to use their political allies on Warminster Town Council to help them push it through.

“They are trying to get away without giving any priority to sufficient affordable or social housing.

“The town council does not have the authority to provide social and affordable housing but Wiltshire Council does, and this is mainly their plan.

“The town councillors have let us down badly by not insisting that Wiltshire Council include the facilities we need.

“How can we say yes to a plan that doesn't provide the town with what is desperately needed? I hope Warminster people will see through what the town council is attempting to do and vote no."

Warminster Town Council claims the plan, which spans the period up to 2026, has been drawn up to enable the town to take a new approach to its future development as it grows.

Town clerk Heather Abernethie has said that the town will 'not have a clear vision and could fall behind if the plan is not approved at referendum'.

Councillors have also said that the town council will get 10 per cent more from developer contributions if the plan is approved, but SW Wilts Labour Party chairman Mike Sutton also has doubts.

He said: "Only in June this year the government has changed the rules on the building of social and affordable housing.

“Now developers of developments of 10 houses or less do not have to include any affordable homes.

“Even for developments of more than 10 homes, planning regulations say that they must build a proportion of 'affordable' homes, but affordable is defined as starting at £250,000.

“That is not affordable for the vast majority of people who desperately need a home of their own."

Visit Warminster Town Council's website for more information on the referendum.