PEOPLE in Calstock Parish are being encouraged to vote ’Yes’ for their Neighbourhood Development Plan today.

Polling stations will be open until 10pm in Albaston, Calstock, Gunnislake, and Harrowbarrow, and every resident aged 18 and over has a vote.

If the majority of those voting on the day say ‘yes’ then the Plan will be adopted as an important part of the planning policy for the Parish.

The Plan has been eight years in the making by a Neighbourhood Plan Group consisting of local residents and Parish Councillors.

Chairman of the Neighbourhood Plan Group, Alastair Tinto, speaking in a personal capacity as the head of the ‘VOTE YES for the Calstock Parish Plan’ campaign, says the plan has an emphasis on homes for local people in the right place.

“The Plan supports new housing in our existing villages through infill and rounding off to allow for continued growth. However, it restricts development outside the villages to protect the countryside. Outside, but adjacent to the village boundaries, the Plan encourages the development of small scale, affordable housing at affordable rents for local people.”

Gill Court, another member of the campaign group, said: “In the last 10 years there have been over 400 new homes built in the Parish. They have mainly been market housing.

“These have been built with very little supporting infrastructure. The sewage system is struggling to cope, flooding has become an issue, and we have got major traffic problems with the existing road system. We need better control of development - which is what the Plan does.”

Here’s where you’ll find a polling station:

Calstock Village Hall, The Quay, Calstock

Tamar Valley Methodist Church Room, Albaston

Gunnislake Village Hall, Fore Street, Gunnislake

Village Hall, School Road, Harrowbarrow, Callington