Plans submitted for 249 homes, care home and shops north of Westbury

A planning application for 249 new homes, a care home and retail space including a drive-through on land north of Westbury has been submitted to Wiltshire Council.

Bellway Homes has submitted plans for the 14.58-hectare development at Hawke Ridge Business Park, which aims to create a new community on land previously earmarked for an Amazon warehouse.

Amazon applied for planning permission to build a new distribution centre on a large part of the park in 2021, but the application was withdrawn in 2023.

The new plans seek permission for 249 homes, with 40% designated as affordable, alongside a 64-bedroom care home, a local convenience store, flexible retail units and one drive-through retail unit and public open space.

The site, opposite the West Wilts Trading Estate, had consent for 500,000 sq ft of employment development granted in 2014.

Documents submitted with the application refer to Wiltshire Council’s housing land supply position as a “severe and persistent shortfall”.

They argue that, following the withdrawal of the Wiltshire Local Plan Review, the council’s housing land supply position will not be addressed for several years until a replacement Local Plan is adopted.

The documents state, “In this context, it will be essential for the Council to permit sustainable residential proposals in order to maintain supply in the short to medium term and ensure the delivery of new homes to meet market demand and local affordable housing need.”