PROPOSALS to develop a neighbourhood plan for south Swindon will go under the microscope tonight.

The parish council is hosting a public meeting for residents interested in finding out more about the plans.

A neighbourhood plan allows communities to set out where they want new developments to be built and what land they want protected. By drawing up a neighbourhood plan, parish and town councils are also able to get more cash from the pot developers pay to planning departments.

But the plans, established as part of new planning rules in 2011, are not without their critics. Those critics include Chris Watts, chairman of South Swindon Parish Council, who regularly blasts developers for applying to build homes in areas not earmarked for houses in Swindon’s Local Plan. Earlier this year, he pointed out Wroughton’s neighbourhood plan failed to stop the government letting developers build 103 homes off Marlborough Road last July.

The neighbourhood plan meeting is tonight at Broadgreen Community Centre from 6.30pm.