A PARISH council is looking for residents to volunteer to help steer a draft Neighbourhood Plan, which will help fend off speculative planning applications.

Dodderhill Parish Council is looking to “take the bull by the horns” after being criticised for delaying discussions over the plan, which would lay out the number of new homes the village could accommodate.

At a full council meeting on Monday, February 4, Councillor Doug Webb said: “I know we’ve got other things going on, but this has been on the agenda for a while. We are in danger of the public saying, quite rightly, why do you keep putting it off?”

Cllr Alyson Keane, council chairman, had initially favoured holding off on the plan until May because of a lack of people to do it.

The start of the meeting had been delayed by almost an hour with Cllr Webb running late, and only four other members present. The council could have up to 13 members but currently has only eight.

All members of the public then stormed out after Cllr Keane brought a discussion regarding a proposal for 33 affordable homes in Wychbold to a halt, after being accused of creating a “clash of interests”.

The council voted against the unpopular application, regarding land off Chequers Lane, submitted by Wychbold Development LLP and Fortis Living, in January. However, residents criticised the council’s decision to then place a poster on the village notice board asking anyone interested in one of the homes to contact the applicant – before the plan has been approved by the district council.

Cllr Webb said: “It might seem that the parish council is prevaricating whilst the developers have taken an opportunity. Other parishes have got a Neighbourhood Plan, either in development, or they’ve got one.”

Cllr Keane said: “It’s not a five-minute job. It’s two or three years and there’s only eight of us.”

Cllr Sue Howarth suggested the council encouraged residents to put their names forward to potentially form a steering group. Volunteers can email dodderhillpc@gmail.com.