Housing developer ‘breached legal duty’ over ‘forgotten land’ south of Western Way

WORKS to bring a ‘forgotten’ open space on land south of Western Way up to standard is due to begin, as Wiltshire Council say the housing developer responsible for the site, Taylor Wimpey, has not ‘upheld its legal duty.’

Wiltshire Council says the housing developer has breached the Section 106 agreement – a legally binding contract – by not carrying out the work.

The area of land will provide a green buffer between the busy A365 and the development at Pathfinder Way in Bowerhill, situated next to where the long-awaited primary school is due to be developed.

Wiltshire Council said that Taylor Wimpey was legally bound to notify the authority of when Pathfinder Place was up to 70% residential occupancy. At this stage, work on the open space should have been carried out.

However, it says the developer did not let Wiltshire Council know about the residential occupancy until the Pathfinder Place development was at 90% residential occupancy, therefore breaching the Section 106 agreement – a legally binding contact between the planning authority and developer.

Cabinet member for strategic planning at Wiltshire Council, cllr Nick Botterill, said, “We are working with the developer to ensure remedial works to this site are completed and we carried out site inspections in 2022 and 2023.

“Following these inspections, lists of remedial works required to bring the open space areas up to standard were issued, most recently in March 2023.

“The developer has confirmed they are undertaking these remedial works to secure sign off and an Open Space Completion Certificate. Remedial action to the open space area to the east of the site has been complete, however further remedial action is required to the open space on the west of the site.

“The developer has notified us that they are at 90% residential occupancy on this site which means they are currently in breach of the Section 106 agreement, as an Open Space Completion Certificate is required at 70% residential occupancy.

“The developer has a legal duty to notify us when they reach 70% occupancy and unfortunately this did not take place. This means the developer has not upheld their legal duty which is a matter we take very seriously. As the local planning authority, we do not have access to sales and residency information and it is down to the developer to ensure they uphold their legal duty to notify us. We have stressed the urgency of completing the necessary remedial works as soon as possible and our next reinspection of progress on this site is due to take place by the end of February 2024.”

A Taylor Wimpey spokesperson said, “We take our planning obligations very seriously and engage thoroughly with planning authorities at all stages of development. We are in regular contact with Wiltshire Council regarding any outstanding works at our Melksham development and are working to complete these as soon as possible.”

Cllr Nick Holder said, “I think it is really disappointing we have another example of Taylor Wimpey failing to deliver obligations which form an integral part of the planning permission for the site.

“We had significant issues last year with the late installation of the toucan crossings and here is another example. It is very frustrating to see that this green buffer between the busy A365 and phase two of the development has been “forgotten” by them.

“Thankfully, this was picked up by me and the parish council prior to the final site handover, otherwise this landscaping may never have happened. I know the Wiltshire Council planning enforcement team have already demanded a detailed timescale for the work to be completed and I have been told the work will start mid-February, with completion six weeks later.”