Public appeal gives green light to care home and housing development

THE construction of a 70-bed care home and 210 houses on land south of Western Way, Melksham can go ahead, after a public appeal was upheld.

A planning inspector has ruled in favour of the development after considering evidence presented at a public hearing, held in Melksham Town Hall in October, for councillors, residents and planning professionals to present their case.

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.

The application, which was made by Hallam Land Management, was refused for the third time by Wiltshire Council last April, on grounds that the site was protected from speculative non plan-led development by the area’s joint Neighbourhood Plan.

Wiltshire Council was able to use the Neighbourhood Plan to refuse the application as the Neighbourhood Plan, which is drawn up by Melksham’s town and parish councils, was in place and demonstrated that the area still had a plan-led approach. However, the eligibility only holds for the Neighbourhood Plan’s first two years and this expired in July last year. Following this, the developers called for an appeal to their application, which has now been upheld.

Phase two of the Melksham Neighbourhood Plan has recently been out for consultation with local people and work is progressing on the next stage. Wiltshire Council has also had its Local Plan out for local consultation. However, at the moment, Melksham has been seen as vulnerable to speculative housing development. This has been compounded by Wiltshire Council’s lack of a 5-year land supply, which has been criticised by local councillors and MP Michelle Donelan.

As a result of the deficit, Wiltshire Council has an insufficient number of ‘deliverable sites’ to provide five years’ worth of housing. During the appeal, one witness gave evidence about why the development would help address Wiltshire Council’s housing target because it does not have a five-year land supply in place.

At the appeal, cllr Richard Wood, representing Melksham Without Parish Council (MWPC), also 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.

Chair of MWPC, cllr John Glover said, “The issues related to this application were so much more than just the principle of speculative development coming forward, whilst there were draft plans out for consultation by both Wiltshire Council and the Melksham Neighbourhood Plan for Plan-led development, with the right infrastructure in the right place to support it.

“Wiltshire Council being unable to demonstrate a five-year land supply is having real impact on new development in the Melksham area and this was compounded by them not defending this application at the appeal hearing.”