By Local Democracy Reporter Peter Davison
Nearly 300 houses and a 64-bed care home could be built on a site earmarked for an Amazon warehouse, after the landowner failed to attract interest from businesses.
The 15-hectare Hawke Ridge Business Park, north of Westbury, was unveiled with great fanfare in 2014, with Wiltshire Council and business leaders saying the £50 million scheme would support 1,000 jobs over half a million feet of employment space.
In 2021, Amazon applied for planning permission to build a new distribution centre on a large part of the park – but the application was withdrawn in 2023.
A new roundabout was built in 2018. Drive-through takeaway units were mooted in 2024, but these have failed to materialise.
After 14 years, and with no new employment use on the site delivered, landowner Hawke Ridge Business Park Limited has teamed up with housebuilder Bellway Homes and is preparing a planning application to change the existing permission from commercial use to residential.
They are seeking permission for 275 new homes alongside a 64-bedroom care home, a local convenience store, flexible retail units, and one drive-through retail unit.
The landowner and housebuilder have jointly submitted a ‘screening’ request to Wiltshire Council.
Council officers will review the document before telling the developer what level of detail it needs to provide when submitting its planning application.
The companies have pledged to consult local residents before a planning application is submitted.
