Warminster: Up to 205 homes to be built in town

Up to 205 new homes are set to be built in a town after a council approved a planning application.

Wiltshire Council councillors gave permission for the development, on land west of Westbury Road in Warminster.

Residents had raised concerns over sewage management, public safety, and the character of the town potentially being distorted.

Chris March, from Barratt Homes, said there would be "benefits... from the scheme", such as 62 affordable houses.

The council approved the application at a meeting on Wednesday.

Andrew Lee, a neighbour to the site, expressed his disapproval of the plan.

He said: "The proposed houses, according to Barratt's own publicity, would sell for an average of £327k.

"The average salary in Warminster is £27,800, no local person on an average salary can afford these houses."

Two other members of the public agreed, expressing their own worries about sewage management, public safety, and the character of the town, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Mr March said: "Benefits arising from the scheme include the provision of affordable housing in the order of 62 homes for real families in real housing need, the provision of a community hub, a range of open spaces, sustainable drainage, off-site highway improvements, and that includes a lowering of the speed limit on Westbury Road."

In response, councillor Phil Keeble, current Warminster town mayor, said: "The proposed development is not in keeping with the stylistic context or scale of the local area."

Andrew Guest, head of development management at the council, reminded speakers that it is an outline planning application, the detailed design of which will be considered at a later stage.

As the time to vote approached, councillor Ernie Clark expressed his frustration.

He said: "We sit here, looking at an application that is absolutely shocking and yet, effectively, we know that if we refuse it, it's going to go to appeal."

He went on to suggest that if it went to appeal, a planning inspector would approve it based on the need for a five-year housing land supply.

"It's planning anarchy and it's a disgrace," he added.

Councillor Nick Botterill, cabinet member for strategic planning, said in a statement: "As stated in our latest housing land supply statement, we have a modest shortfall in our five-year housing land supply.

"Although the housing land supply is below the five years required by government, we are doing well in terms of house building, as the latest housing delivery test results show that we have met 141% of our housing targets over the past three years."

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