THE onslaught of large “predatory’ housing plans for Melksham is showing no signs of slowing down.
A planning application to build 150 houses on land situated to the south of Woodrow Road has been submitted this week to Wiltshire Council.
The plans are one of many that have caused concern for residents and local councillors, who have raised concerns about how local schools and GP surgeries will cope, the loss of green spaces, and the impact on the environment.
The recent slew of applications have been described as “predatory” and “opportunistic”, with blame given to Wiltshire Council’s failure to maintain a five-year land supply – which means there is an insufficient number of ‘deliverable sites’ to provide five years’ worth of housing.
News of the Woodrow Road application follows in the wake of Wiltshire Council’s announcement that it is proposing to build over 2,500 new houses in Melksham as part of its “emerging” Local Plan.
And over the past 12 months, a number of housing plans in the area have been announced:
• A pre-application public consultation about plans for 170 houses on land to the west of the A350, to the north of Melksham has recently closed
• Plans for 240 houses on land to the south of Western Way and 50 houses on land west of Semington Road are both awaiting a decision from Wiltshire Council.
• And plans for 144 houses in Berryfield were recently given the thumbs up from Wiltshire Council.
And whilst these applications are being considered, developers are currently building 450 houses on land off Spa Road, and 235-houses are in the process of being built on Pathfinder Way.
It comes at a time when Wiltshire Council’s plans to allow over 2,500 homes in the Melksham area up to 2036 have come under fire.
The application for 150 houses on land south of Woodrow Road has already attracted strong opposition from neighbouring residents.
During the pre-application consultation last year, residents raised concern about the proposed pedestrian access to the development off Woodrow Road, which they described as “lethal”.
The group of residents, who successfully fought off similar plans in 2016, plan to again fight the application.
To view the plans for the housing development on land off Woodrow Road, and to comment, search with the reference 21/01629/OUT on the Wiltshire Council planning website.
