Planning application marks next step in £32m Melksham depot plan

By Local Democracy Reporter Peter Davison

A long-running £32 million plan for a huge new council depot in Melksham has taken a major step forward, more than three years after the project was given the go-ahead.

Wiltshire Council has now lodged a planning application for its proposed central area depot on the former Christie Miller Sports Centre and golf course at Bowerhill.

If approved, the development will bring a raft of council operations together on one site, including highways, waste and streetscene services and the Household Recycling Centre.

Plans also include a reuse shop, offices and staff facilities, yards for materials and equipment, workshops for servicing HGVs and other vehicles, fleet and bin lorry parking, fuelling and washdown facilities and electric vehicle charging points.

The council says the depot is intended to be fit for purpose for the next 30 years and forms part of a wider strategy to reduce the number of depots it operates across Wiltshire.

Bowerhill is intended to become the first of three strategic depots covering the north, central and south of the county.

The council says the former golf course was selected because of its central location, road links and proximity to the population using the recycling centre, as well as the fact the authority already owns the land.

Progress has been gradual. The £32.618 million budget was approved in November 2023, perimeter fencing and ground investigations followed in September 2025 and residents were finally shown detailed proposals during a public engagement exercise in July this year.

Subject to permission and the appointment of a contractor, construction is currently expected to start in the second half of 2027. The council has yet to say when the depot itself could open.