WESTBURY Town Council has made their response to Wiltshire Council’s Core Strategy Consultation Document.
The document identifies Westbury as a key target for employment growth, while recognising the town has a need for more services and facilities which have not matched the growth of housing. The strategy also outlines other ways to improve the long-term development of Westbury including redevelopment of the High Street and working with the town’s Vision for Westbury project.
In response to the strategy, the highways, planning and development committee of Westbury Town Council have put forward the following recommendations:-
1) Proposed allocation of employment land at Mill Lane, Hawkeridge.
Any development should:
• be for high quality employment uses only (ie: not open storage, warehousing, scrap/recycling or any heavy industrial use etc.)
• provide a proper road junction on to Hawkeridge Road, preferably a roundabout; and
• must include high quality landscaping to the perimeter.
2) Priority must be given to development of the Station Road site (H14). Westbury Town Council
• agrees in principle with the de-allocation of the employment site at Station Road, providing any existing employment use is retained and protected. A survey will need to be undertaken to identify the extent of existing employment use;
• accepts that expansion of H14 for additional housing will help enable delivery of the bridge over the Westbury avoiding line and provision of a distributor road connection to the station and on to Station Road;
• basically supports that any additional sites for residential development can only be brought forward if allocated in a community-led Neighbourhood Plan.
3) Current Town Policy Limits will be retained.
4) Town Centre Enhancements: Westbury Town Council agrees that key community services and facilities should be retained in the town centre – too many have already been lost. A pedestrian link between Morrison’s car park and the High Street is to be included in any future town plan for Westbury and can be pursued through a development brief.
5) Special Landscape Areas (SLA’s): Westbury Town Council supports retention of the current SLA for the area next to Westbury, including Wellhead Valley, Leighton sports grounds and the escarpment.
6) Traffic Issues: Westbury Town Council would expect research to be undertaken during the early part of the strategy to identify appropriate ways of improving congestion, noise and pollution issues on the A350 in the town.
7) Core Policy 48: Strategic Transport Network. Westbury Town Council would expect a development brief to be undertaken covering the station approach area, to include a new road junction to connect with the proposed extension of Mane Way.
