A PUBLIC hearing was held in the town hall for councillors, residents and planning professionals to fight their corner over the proposed construction of a 70-bed care home and 210 houses on land south of Western Way.
The hearing took place on Tuesday 24th October, following Wiltshire Council’s refusal of the application for a third time in April this year, on the grounds the site was protected from speculative non plan-led development by the area’s joint Neighbourhood Plan.
The first application was refused by Wiltshire Council and objected to by parish councillors in 2020 and then again in 2022, due to their concerns around access to the site, the loss of green buffer between the separate Bowerhill and Melksham communities and the lack of infrastructure in Melksham to cope with the expanding population, particularly the additional strain on GP surgeries from the proposed care home.
Objection
Residents and local councillors spoke at the hearing and gave their objections before a planning inspector. These centred on access to the care home and housing development being via 70-house cul-de-sac of Maitland Place and the impact the development would have on the town’s existing infrastructure and traffic.
A member of BRAG (Bowerhill Residents’ Action Group) objected to the location of the development; raising concerns around the design and lack of access and links to footpaths and cycle routes; concerns about residents’ safety when crossing the busy A350; and the fact the only ‘green’ aspect to the development is a ‘thin line of trees.’ They also raised concern about the impact of an increase in traffic on Pathfinder Way.
Wiltshire cllr Nick Holder also said that the development was not in line with Wiltshire Council’s emerging Local Plan, which is currently out for consultation and that a ‘thorough assessment of care home demand had not been made.’
“The majority of future occupants would be unlikely to access the services in the adjoining settlement of Melksham,” said cllr Nick Holder. “From the site, it takes 20 minutes on foot to access the town centre and the main bus stops for onward travel to Bath, Chippenham and Trowbridge, and another 10 minutes to access the railway station. The nearest GP surgery is at least 10 minutes on foot and about the same time in a car.”
Evidence
Three professionals working on behalf of the appellant, Hallam Land Management, gave evidence as to why the development should go ahead and gave answers as to how they would address residents’ concerns.
“Melksham is extremely well-placed locationally with sustainable access and travel opportunities in-order to provide homes which meet that central path of the north and west Wiltshire housing market area,” said the director of planning, Savills, Nick Matthews. “This is absolutely a good location. This is the conclusion that I reach in my evidence.”
During the appeal, one of the witnesses gave evidence about why this development would help address Wiltshire Council’s housing target because the authority currently does not have a five-year land supply in place, which means there is an insufficient number of ‘deliverable sites’ to provide five years’ worth of housing. Wiltshire Council can only demonstrate a 4.6-year land supply figure at present.
Cllr Richard Wood, representing Melksham Without Parish Council, expressed his dismay at the lack of any defence by Wiltshire Council’s legal team at this hearing, despite the strong arguments that the current and emerging reviewed Neighbourhood Plan and Local Plan had mitigated against the Appeal being granted.
Neighbourhood Plan
MWPC said the Neighbourhood Plan was used by Wiltshire Council to refuse the application in April, as although Wiltshire Council could not demonstrate a 5-year land supply, the Neighbourhood Plan was eligible to demonstrate that the area still had a plan-led approach. That eligibility only holds for a Neighbourhood Plan’s first two years and, unfortunately, that expired in July 2023, which is why the developers called for an appeal to their application at that time.
However, proposed changes to extend that eligibility from 2 to 5 years may be implemented following a recent government announcement. The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act received Royal Assent on 27th October, but at the time of writing, details of this are still to be published.
In a statement read by cllr Nick Holder, MP Michelle Donelan said, “I am disappointed that rather than wait for the government to publish its response, applicants in Melksham are still pushing ahead with their appeal, which was refused planning permission by Wiltshire Council on 27th April.”
‘Protecting the integrity’ of the town’s Neighbourhood Plan, that is currently out for public consultation, chair of Melksham Neighbourhood Plan steering committee, MWPC cllr David Pafford said, “This appeal upholds and undermines the whole process of the Neighbourhood Plans and overrides wishes of people of Melksham. This should not go ahead.”
The planning inspector will now make a decision on the application considering the evidence given at the appeal. The timeframe for the decision is not known.
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