RESIDENTS and councillors have voiced their objection to plans to build up to 29 houses off Fairdown Avenue in Westbury.
Over 30 members of the public, many of them residents of Fairdown Avenue and the surrounding residential roads, attended a town council meeting on Monday 21st January to oppose the development from Persimmon Homes.
The site is designed as an extension of the existing cul-de-sac of Fairdown Avenue, with vehicular access from the avenue. The site borders existing houses on Fairdown Avenue and Newtown, Westbury Cemetery, and a field.
A key objection is that the development falls outside the town policy limits (which define the boundaries for the town’s development), and also falls on land that should be protected as a special landscape area. Residents raised their concerns that, if this development was to go ahead, it would lead the way for further development of the surrounding fields.
Cllr Francis Morland said, “I cannot support this application because I believe planning applications should be decided primarily on planning policy. If this is given permission, there is quite a lot of other land that may follow.”
Cllr Gordon King said that he estimated the development would give rise to an extra 174 vehicles passing through Fairdown Avenue every day, putting pressure on the avenue and on Newtown, which already sees considerable traffic from vehicles driving to and from the White Horse. He said, “This is a special landscape area, it’s outside the current policy limits and Wiltshire Council, through its consultations, has put sufficient land aside for houses. This is absolutely the wrong location.”
One resident said, “I’m concerned about the close proximity to the cemetery. The cemetery should be a haven of peace and tranquility to all, and I’m concerned about that being disturbed.”
Another said, “It is not only the 29 houses proposed, but the adjacent field. If this goes ahead, the other field will fall in. I urge you, please turn this application down.”
Residents also voiced fears that a public footpath on the border of the site would be lost and that the development would put pressure on nearby schools, which are already full.
Neither councillors or residents offered any comments in favour of the development, and councillors unanimously agreed to object to the application. The application will now be considered by Wiltshire Council, who will either grant or refuse permission for the development.
Enough housing
allocated already
Residents and councillors pointed out that the town has already had ‘huge developments’ in recent years. Councillors also objected to Persimmon’s claim that Westbury needs more housing areas allocated, saying that the Wiltshire Core Strategy has already allocated plenty of land in Westbury for that purpose.
Councillor Russell Hawker said he would like to see the application turned down in order to put pressure on developers to address other sites in the town. “There is a particular part of Westbury we want to see developed as soon as possible and that is the piece of land down by the station [bordering Oldfield Park and the lake, known as H14]. If you tell the developers where they can and can’t develop, it puts pressure on them to do the difficult bits.”
