A PLANNING application for 150 homes and a new village hall in Berryfield has been refused by Wiltshire Council.
The proposed development by Strutt & Parker covered 20 acres of land to the east of Semington Road which is currently made up of fields that stretch east to the A350.
Wiltshire Council Strategic Planning Committee decided to refuse the application because they feel it would physically and visually impact on the landscape of the area that separates Melksham and Berryfield.
The report states, “The siting and construction of the proposed development would fail to respect this important function resulting in a detrimental and unacceptable change in landscape character urbanising the area between the settlements of Melksham and Berryfield and resulting in their physical and visual coalescence.” Because of this it conflicted with the Wiltshire Core Strategy created last year and therefore refused.
The refusal of the Berryfield planning application will please some residents who objected to the proposal citing reasons such as loss of agricultural land, turning Berryfield into a suburb of Melksham, additional traffic, loss of privacy, disturbance of wildlife as well as other reasons. Melksham Without Parish Council supported the application.
The planning application was one of many to be submitted in and around Melksham with over 1,400 homes proposed as the town continues to grow.
To see the report in full visit Wiltshire Council planning website and use application number 14/07526/OUT
