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Strategic Planning Committee - Tuesday 15 April 2025 10.30 am
April 15, 2025 View on council website Watch video of meeting Read transcript (Professional subscription required)Summary
The Strategic Planning Committee met to discuss planning appeals and updates, and to decide on two planning applications. Outline planning permission was granted for land north of Melksham Road in Holt, subject to conditions and a Section 106 agreement1. A decision on a residential development for land off Freestone Grove in Westbury was deferred.
Land North of Melksham Road, Holt
Outline planning permission to provide up to 55 residential units on land north of Melksham Road in Holt was granted, with all matters reserved except for access. The committee agreed to change condition two to require reserve matters to be submitted within two years rather than three, and to add a note to condition three stating that any subsequent application should broadly accord with the submitted layout showing housing set back behind Melksham Road.
The committee heard from objectors including Lisa Wicks, Kate Leroy, and Richard Goodman, and supporter David Hagan from Redcliffe Homes, and Tom O'Connor, the managing director of Redcliffe Homes, as well as Steve Siddle from Holt Parish Council, and local unitary member Councillor Trevor Carbin.
The committee discussed:
- The safety of the site, which sits on a fast stretch of the B3107.
- The sustainability of the site, given the lack of local amenities.
- The landscape impact of the development.
- Highways issues, including the need for a proper entrance feature to slow traffic.
The committee also discussed the affordable housing provision, with Councillor Adrian Foster raising concerns that the proposal included affordable housing rather than social housing. It was agreed that the Section 106 agreement would be edited to reflect this. Tom O'Connor agreed that 13 of the homes would be social rent.
Chris Mans from the highways authority addressed concerns about the toucan crossing, stating that they require a minimum of 50 pedestrian crossings an hour, which this application would not provide.
Land off Freestone Grove, Westbury
A decision on a residential development for up to 40 dwellings off Freestone Grove in Westbury was deferred to allow the applicant to consider alternative access proposals and to come back with an appropriate number of houses, deemed as 30.
The committee heard from objectors Patty Griffin and Taryn Usually, Westbury Town Councillor Philip Harcourt, and local member Councillor Gordon King.
The committee discussed:
- The impact of construction traffic on the existing residential estate.
- The density of the proposed development.
- The lack of an adequate route to get to the site.
Councillor Adrian Foster said that the appropriate route would be to say that the application should wait until there is an adequate route to get there, and that it should be part of a larger strategic plan rather than a piecemeal approach.
Chris Mans said that the roads are residential roads built to modern residential road design standards, and that the 5.5 metre wide roads would be sufficient to accommodate the additional traffic.
Councillor Richard Britton said that nothing could persuade him that the current proposed access is sensible, and that it would involve massive disruption to a great many existing residents.
Other Matters
Councillor Howard Greenman thanked the committee for their work over the last four years, as this was the last strategic planning committee before the elections. Councillor Foster thanked Councillor Greenman for running the committee in such an efficient and very human way.
Councillor Foster asked about the council's position on land supply, and whether the council would have a two-year grace period if the local plan goes through. Kenny, whose last name is not known, responded that the council is back to the five-year test, and that they have a significant shortfall. He added that the strategic planning team are concentrating their minds on the emerging plan, but that they recognise that there is going to have to be another plan in mind in terms of addressing the shortfall.
Councillor Threlfall raised concerns about the way figures, targets, and the housing delivery test are calculated, as it relies on the developers actually building out. Councillor Greenman said that the government are going after local authorities for delivering more planning applications, but that they should be going after the developers for not building them out. He said that he would like to write to the government about this issue.
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Section 106 agreements are legal agreements between a local planning authority and a developer, ensuring that certain community benefits are provided as part of a planning permission. ↩
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