Standish residents go the polls for neighbourhood plans

Headed by local forum Standish Voice, the Neighbourhood Plan will look to revamp the village, with planning decisions for the area to be in effect until 2030.

A majority result would mean the legal adoption of the planning framework, meaning the community will have more influence on potential developments to the village.

The plan has been in construction since Standish Voice’s creation, but the plan couldn’t come to fruition until this year due to ‘the complexity of issues’ the group faced.

Paul Ogden, of Standish Voice, said: “We feel now that they have the chance to shape the destiny of the village.

“Standish Voice was created in light of the building applications 5 years ago, and we wanted to see if the people could have more of a say with these sorts of decisions in the future.”

The plan contains 30 policies, including restricting the number of takeaways in the area, which currently sits at nine per cent of the total businesses within the village centre, improving leisure facilities and enhancements to the walking and cycling networks."

The plan is the first document of this fashion to reach this stage of a referendum in the Greater Manchester region.

Mr Ogden added: “We want people to appreciate the amount of time it has taken to put this plan together but all we really want is for people to vote, for or against, and to exercise their right to vote and have their say in our community.”

Voting closes at 10pm tonight and results will be announced tonight.