Plans for Freestone Grove development face opposition over access

PLANS to build up to 40 houses on land off Freestone Grove in Westbury, part of the Mill Brook Estate, have come under fire by residents living near the site who say that the proposed access could create further problems down the line.

The application that is being proposed would see vehicular access from a new street linking Freestone Grove in the north to Cheviot Road in the west, creating a loop arrangement which the applicant says will reduce the need for cul-de-sacs. Both of these streets would be accessed through the recently-constructed Mill Brook development from the roundabout on the A350.

However, residents living near the area say that the plans do not consider how narrow the roads are at Freestone Grove and that any increase in traffic from the newly-proposed development would make access for current residents “extremely difficult”.

A resident living at Freestone Grove who wishes to remain anonymous said, “I don’t oppose the plans themselves, but myself and my neighbours have real concerns over the access to the site. The loop arrangement they have proposed would see the majority of the access through Freestone Grove which is extremely narrow. Why can’t the access be through Coach Road?

“Anyone who has been through Mill Brook knows that the roads are already too narrow to support the vehicles that use it and most houses have two cars, so lots of these are parked on the side of the road, which makes it even more narrow. If this development goes through as it is, there’s no chance you’ll get a bin lorry down to the new houses. As a community we are not against the plans themselves, it is purely down to how the site will be accessed. Anything other than pedestrian access from Mill Brook is just not viable.

“Since the pavements have been put in at Freestone Grove, the road has become even more narrow than before – you struggle to get a car round there, let alone anything bigger. Most people will have two cars per household which means if cars are parking in the street as they are allowed to, it will make access extremely difficult.”

Westbury Town Council discussed this application at a meeting last month and councillors agreed to object to it on the grounds that too much detail was left out of the initial outline application, including information on access and highways, and the plan used incorrect information such as the width of the access road.

At the meeting cllr Philip Harcourt said, “When we had a presentation of these plans by the applicant earlier in the year, they claimed that the roads are 5.5 metres wide and yet Freestone Grove itself is only five metres wide. I think an awful lot more needs to be looked into about this application.”

Mayor of Westbury, cllr Mike Sutton added, “I drove to the location recently and the roads are not easy to manoeuvre, particularly with bigger vehicles, so I don’t know how bin lorries will manage. The dimensions given are not what is required for this development. Also, Wiltshire Council’s sustainable transport plan has just come out, which says that all new developments must provide some sort of access to the town for those who do not drive, which I cannot see here.”

You can view the plans by searching PL/2023/05157 on Wiltshire Council’s Planning Portal.