HOUSING developer, Gladman, has amended their application for 200 houses on the land off Storridge Road to 190 houses, but objections from residents and councils still stand.
The reduction of houses is due to a bats’ flypath at the back of the site and Gladman have now looked to provide a wider buffer between the hedges and the residential area following an objection from Wiltshire Council on their last application.
A target date for decision by Wiltshire Council is Friday 31st January.
However, a call-in by cllr Carole King still stands and the application will receive further scrutiny if it does get accepted.
Residents and councils have said that their objections still stand as the application has not changed, or changed very little, from the application that was refused back in 2018.
John Masson is chair of Heywood Parish Council, the parish in which the land falls, which objects to the plans. He said, “We oppose for a number of reasons. It is firstly contrary to the Core Strategy, in particular Core Policy 1 and 2. The site is outside the Westbury settlement boundary and development outside of the settlement boundaries is prohibited.
“Secondly, there is the Section 52 agreement that is still existing between Wiltshire Council and the current landowners. This says that there will be no development on this land, full stop. This covenant can only be lifted by the land commissioners.
“We also understand that Wiltshire now has a 5-year land supply and there was a councillors’ briefing note, published, confirming that.
“We are still concerned about access to the site as well, because it is the demolition of two houses on Storridge Road, but if it is the addition of 190 houses that means you are going to get something like 200+ cars in the morning trying to turn out on to what will be a very busy road.
“In fact, there is no sign of a roundabout being built, that’s going to be a bit interesting. Similarly the other way, when they’re coming home and trying to turn into the estate, avoiding the traffic coming out from the West Wilts Trading Estate.
“The main entrance is between 13 and 14 Storridge Road but there is also an emergency access, further up the road. It is our understanding that this is going to be joining to a children’s play area – which we feel is probably not a good idea.
“In terms of transport, the nearest bus stop that has a regular bus service, is around 1km away. The D1, has been diverted within the last three years, it doesn’t go along The Ham, Storridge Road, so anyone that lives at the far end of the development would have to walk the entire length of the development, up Storridge Road and then equal-distance down the Ham to catch the D1; or alternatively, go over Station Road, down outside the station, and in.
“It’s not sustainable! With the distance people are to travel, within the industry they say it should only be around 400m to a bus stop, consequently this would mean more and more people would be encouraged to use their cars.
“Gladman also haven’t been in touch with us as the council since 2017 about this development at all. When this new proposal came out, they didn’t contact us – or the residents. I’m not certain they even consulted with the unitary councillors.
“Finally, we support the previous objections by Wiltshire Council for the previous scheme. Basically, there has been no change in the documentations, or very little change that we can see. We don’t think it has answered questions raised by the previous refusal.”
Westbury Town Council has also objected to the amendment for similar reasons. They also added that a reduction of 10 houses was not a material difference and would still cause serious traffic problems on the already struggling Station Road.
