MELKSHAM Without Parish Council has ‘strongly objected’ to plans for 650 new houses on land at Blackmore Farm, off Eastern Way.
They have raised concerns that the development – in the east of Melksham – is in open countryside and outside the settlement boundary of Melksham and Bowerhill, making it ‘isolated’ and ‘unsustainable’.
The parish council has also highlighted that Melksham has a Neighbourhood Plan, which sets out where a community would prefer to see housing built, and protects the Melksham community area against unsustainable development until July 2023.
Concern has also been raised by parish councillors about the development’s proposal to allocate land for a ‘single form entry primary school’, which the parish council says does not meet Wiltshire Council’s criteria of ‘two form entry school provision’.
The proposal by developers Gleeson Land was announced in April, shortly before they carried out a public consultation as part of a pre-application exercise. They have not yet submitted a formal planning application to Wiltshire Council.
The plans provoked a strong reaction from locals who worried that the town’s already stretched GP surgeries, dental practices, schools and roads, would not be able to cope if the development were to go ahead.
Gleeson Land’s plans include scope for a new primary school and community hub; provision of ‘informal and formal’ open space – including children’s play areas and allotments; retention of the majority of existing trees and hedgerows; areas of ‘substantial’ wildlife habitat creation; and space for ‘sustainable urban drainage’ measures to manage water run off before entering the local watercourse. And of the 650 houses, the developers say that 30% ‘could be’ affordable housing.
