Village Design Statement
What it is
A document that describes the distinctive characteristics of our area such as our history and landscape, the form of our settlement and specific details such as building materials used. It provides guidelines to developers to assist in managing development so that the village’s essential character is protected and enhanced. It was produced by the Parish Council, in consultation with the residents and Wiltshire Council.
It was adopted by Wiltshire Council in 2013 as a Supplementary Planning Document and is used to help in determining local planning applications.
2023 Review of our Village Design Statement
Donhead St Andrew Parish Council has proposed some minor alterations to the existing VDS, suggested alterations are minor and do not affect the fundamental design principles in the original document. The principal alteration is to refer to our “International Dark Skies Status” that has been awarded to the Cranborne Chase AONB, and that any building design needs to take this into consideration to ensure light pollution is reduced.
Other alterations that have been proposed include the removal of reference to “Friends of St. Andrew’s Church” as it has ceased to exist and reference to the “Henrietta Barnett field centre” has been removed as there is no longer potential for it to be used as a community building.
The process of updating the VDS has been going on for the last few years. The Parish Council has approved the changes at its meeting in September 2023 and the new draft document can be found below.
The Parish Council inviting comment on the new Village Design Statement. Notices will be placed on all the Village noticeboards, the Donhead Digest Mag, as well as this website.
A public meeting will be held on Thursday 11th January 2024 for commnets to be made in-person
At the meeting on the 11th of January the Parish Council will consider all the feedback received and submit the final draft of the VDS to Wiltshire Council for adoption.
Do please take the time to read the new VDS and and give some feedback, even if the feedback is just that you like the document and you would like to see it adopted - this will help build up the evidence to Wiltshire Council that the VDS is supported and that Parishioners want to see it used.
Email comments to: donheadstandrewpc@gmail.com