WESTBURY Town Council has once again objected to plans that would see 41 new houses being built at land at Bratton Road. The area has been a target for development for a number of years, with plans being taken to appeal after Wiltshire Council previously rejected them.
Westbury Town Council’s highways, planning, and development committee objected to the plans at a meeting on Monday 22nd August on the basis that the plans do not fit in with the town council’s soon-to-be-published neighbourhood plan.
Councillors also have concerns over access to the site, and they say that the site is unsuitable as it is one of the last green spaces left at the edge of Westbury.
Speaking at the meeting, cllr Mike Sutton said, “For context, there have been other proposals in this area throughout the years, where land has been bought up all along that area.
“A few years ago, we had an application for a big development for 400 or so houses going down to the cements works and the golf club, all the way to Coach Road – so this is definitely smaller than what was proposed. This, however, is the last green boundary for Westbury before we go into the next parish, and it is certainly encroaching.”
Cllr Sheila Kimmins said, “My main concern is over the access – the developer says they will widen a public footpath to make it a cycleway, but how are the residents of those 41 houses going to get out onto Bratton Road?”
Cllr Jane Russ added, “We’ve always had concerns with people coming out onto Bratton Road due to the speed of approaching cars, it’s way too dangerous. The speed limit is 40 mph down there, which is just too fast for cars trying to leave the area.
Cllr Mark Bailey explained, “The developers are proposing that the 40mph speed limit sign would be moved so that motorists would be coming out into a 30mph zone.”
“There simply isn’t the infrastructure to support this growth”
Councillors also talked about the difficulties of land supply targets and the lack of infrastructure in the town to support more housing.
Wiltshire Council is required by the government to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply. However, as the council can only demonstrate a 4.75-year supply, areas in Wiltshire (such as Westbury) can be targeted by housing developers. Wiltshire Council announced on 4th April this year that they had met 141% of its housing targets over the past three years, but there is still a shortfall in the housing land supply and, as a result, housing developments can be pushed through to resolve supply issues.
Speaking on this issue, cllr Sutton added, “We’ve already witnessed gross over-development in the town, with no added infrastructure, and this is just another to add to the pile. Westbury seems to be targeted more than any other town in Wiltshire and there simply isn’t the infrastructure to support this growth.”
Cllr Russ added, “People may think that an additional 41 houses isn’t a huge amount for the town to contend with – you only need to have an extra ten children to attend Bitham Brook Primary School before they start to struggle with the capacity, not to mention the amount of additional traffic movements in the area.”
Cllr Mark Bailey said, “One thing the developer mentions is the fact that Westbury needs this development as Wiltshire Council hasn’t finalised their five-year housing land supply plan, which is something we hear time and time again and unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do about that.”
Cllr Sutton finalised, “This is another consequence of a lack of a housing plan, and we deplore Wiltshire Council’s failure to agree a five-year housing land supply, as we get bombarded with more developments such as this.”
