40 NEW homes could be built on land off Freestone Grove in Westbury and local residents have raised concerns about the potential impact on parking, traffic, and drainage in the area.
The landowner has put forward an outline proposal for a residential development of up to 40 homes and associated works near the Millbrook estate, which includes construction of a new vehicular and pedestrian access off Freestone Grove and Cheviot Road.
A planning application is expected to be submitted to Wiltshire Council this summer.
As part of the application, a statement will also be prepared which will sum up the feedback given by residents, as well as any issues raised. Once the application has been registered by Wiltshire Council anyone will be able to comment on the proposals.
As part of the proposals, residents were invited to a public consultation event held at The Laverton on Monday 23rd January, where the agents on behalf of the landowner were present to answer any questions that locals may have.
Pegasus Group, the development consultancy said, “The site for the proposed development is a parcel of land situated on the eastern edge of Westbury. The site is bound to the east by Coach Road, beyond which lies agricultural land. The site is bounded to the north, west, and south by recent residential development.
“The site is also a proposed allocation in the emerging Neighbourhood Plan. The proposed development will help to meet some of the housing land supply shortfall of Wiltshire Council and will provide a range and mix of housing including affordable homes.”
A couple who recently moved to the Millbrook estate said they have concerns that the proposed development will have a negative effect on parking and traffic in the area.
They said, “We’re quite concerned by the additional traffic that this proposal will bring. We have problems already with the surface of the road currently, things will only get worse when we have loads of HGVs from the site traffic trundling down the road.
“Even after the estate is built, you will have more vehicles trying to get onto the A350, which is a nightmare at rush hour anyway. Although the proposal is for 40 homes, most homes have two cars on average, so that’s 80 additional car movements a day in an area that is already having issues. People park in the street as it is, so I think access will be a huge issue for this proposal.”
Another couple who also live in the neighbouring Millbrook estate say they have major concerns over the drainage for the site.
They said, “We’ve been nearly flooded twice now since moving to the area. Whilst I understand that the detail for the plan will come later once it’s been submitted, we would like whoever is going to build these homes to think long and hard about the drainage plan and bear the current neighbours in mind.
“If we get heavy rainfall like we have had recently, the proposed attenuation pond may overflow, and we will have an even bigger issue than we had two years ago when we were almost flooded.”
Plans are expected to be submitted this spring.
You can view the plans online at www.freestonegrove.co.uk
