Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Pip Ridout and from Cllr Jonathon Seed. Cllr Pip Ridout was substituted by Cllr Richard Britton.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 19 March 2025.

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 March 2025 were presented for consideration. Cllr Elizebath Threlfall proposed an amendment to the minutes, requesting to change some of the text in the fifth paragraph on page 12 of the agenda pack,

From:

In addition, it was felt that Wiltshire Council had also failed as they could not demonstrate a 5 year HLS and our WCS (or Local Plan) had been adopted in 2015, which was a very long time ago.

To:

In addition, it was pointed out that Wiltshire Council could not currently demonstrate a 5 hear HLS and that our last Local Plan was adopted in 2015 and was out of date.

and it was,

Resolved

To approve and sign the minutes as a true and correct record, subject to the amendment detailed above.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive any announcements through the Chair.

The Chairman thanked all Members and officers who had supported the Committee over the last 4 years, as due to the local authority elections on 1 May 2025, this could be the last meeting of the Committee in its current makeup. The Chairman wished everyone well.

Cllr Adrian Foster requested some clarity on the 5-year Housing Land Supply (HLS) and changes to the National Planning and Policy Framework (NPPF).

Kenny Green, Planning Manager, stated that he could not respond on possible future changes the government may make to the NPPF. However, he explained that the council had benefited from transitional arrangements that allowed for a 4-year test for local planning authorities that had reached the advanced stages of preparing a new Local Plan, which applied to Wiltshire Council as we were at the Regulation 19 stage. However, in mid-December 2024, the government made changes to the NPPF, which reintroduced the 5-year HLS test again, and through further revisions made to the housing delivery test, come the summer of 2026, Wiltshire Council would need to plan to provide the new housing requirements with a 20% buffer.

Members were informed that the two reports included within the agenda referred to this new national policy imposition introduced by the government. At present, Members were advised that the council could currently demonstrate a 2.03-year HLS, which Planning Inspectors had stated in recent appeal decisions was a significant shortfall. For all new housing development proposals this remained a material consideration for decision makers.

Members were further advised that the emerging Local Plan could only be given limited weight for decision making purposes at this stage, whereby no examinations (led by two planning inspectors) had taken place.

When the plan was adopted, this should draw a new line in the sand and should mean that there were enough allocated sites to provide sufficient housing. Housing deliverability remained a challenge.

In response, the Chairman voiced the opinion that government was pursing local authorities to allocate more sites, when it should be pursing developers to build out those sites where permissions had already been granted. He highlighted that there were about 19,500 permissions across Wiltshire which had not been built out. He stated that he would write to government on this matter and the Committee supported that approach.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

Statements

Members of the public who wish to speak either in favour or against an application or any other item on this agenda are asked to register no later than 10.20am on the day of the meeting. If it is on the day of the meeting registration should be done in person.

The rules on public participation in respect of planning applications are linked to in the Council’s Planning Code of Good Practice. The Chairman will allow up to 3 speakers in favour and up to 3 speakers against an application, and up to 3 speakers on any other item on this agenda. Each speaker will be given up to 3 minutes and invited to speak immediately prior to the item being considered. Representatives of Parish Councils are included separately in the speaking procedure, please contact the officer listed for details.

Members of the public and others will have had the opportunity to make representations on planning applications and other items on the agenda, and to contact and lobby their local elected member and any other members of the planning committee, prior to the meeting.

Those circulating such information prior to the meeting, written or photographic, are advised to also provide a copy to the case officer for the application or item, in order to officially log the material as a representation, which will be verbally summarised at the meeting by the relevant officer, not included within any officer slide presentation if one is made. Circulation of new information which has not been verified by planning officers or case officers is also not permitted during the meetings.

Questions

To receive any questions from members of the public or members of the Council received in accordance with the constitution which excludes, in particular, questions on non-determined planning applications.

Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on Tuesday 8 April 2025 in order to be guaranteed of a written response. In order to receive a verbal response questions must be submitted no later than 5pm on Thursday 10 April 2025. Please contact the officer named on the front of this agenda for further advice. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

The procedure on public participation was noted.

To receive details of completed and pending appeals, and any other updates as appropriate.

The planning appeal reported in the agenda was noted.

Outline planning permission to provide up to 55 No.residential (Use Class C3) units with all matters reserved except for access.

Public Participation

Lisa Wickes spoke in objection to the application

Kate Learoyd spoke in objection to the application

Richard Goodman spoke in objection to the application

David Hagan spoke in support of the application

Tom O’Connor spoke in support of the application

Cllr Steve Siddall of Holt Parish Council spoke in objection to the application.

Jemma Foster, Senior Planning Officer, introduced a report which recommended that the application for Outline planning permission to provide up to 55 no. residential (Use Class C3) units with all matters reserved except for access be delegated to the Director of Planning to grant outline planning permission subject to the prior completion of a Section 106 legal agreement and planning conditions.

Slides were shown to the Committee detailing the site which was confirmed as being located outside the limits of development. Members were informed that the site was opposite another site (PL/2022/03315) which had been given planning permission for up to 90 dwellings at appeal.

It was noted that Holt had a made Neighbourhood Plan (NP), however it was more than 5 years old, and as such when tested against the National Planning and Policy Framework (NPPF) it was not considered as being up to date. Members were informed that whilst Holt had a conservation area and several listed buildings, these were some distance from the site, whereby there would not be any material harm to the heritage assets.

The Committee was informed that the council’s landscape officer had initially objected to the scheme, however they supported the revised plans, and maintained that through new planting commitments, there would be sufficient mitigation to reduce harm.

It was also noted that there was a water main running through the site, and there was a Wessex Water facility at one corner, just outside the site, which required a 15m buffer.

An illustrative masterplan was shown giving a general indication of how the site may be developed which was considered compliant with Wiltshire Council design and place-making planning policies, but it was noted that this was not being approved with the application as it was an outline application, and that a follow up reserve matters application would need to address all the finer layout, scale and massing details of any housing scheme. 

The application included the submission of a landscape strategy which included the provision of a 3m wide cycle/footpath and the applicant’s commitment to providing a new bus stop which would utilise an existing crossing.

The Committee heard that Holt Parish Council had requested that the existing village gateway should be relocated should the application be supported, with the current and proposed location being shown in the landscape strategy.

Access to the site would be formed at the existing field access and would be a priority-controlled T junction. The speed limit would be reduced to 30mph and would start at the proposed new site of the village gateway.

In terms of sustainability, the Committee was informed that when the Planning Inspectorate considered the 90-house appealed development on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

Residential development for up to 40 dwellings, associated works including infrastructure, ancillary facilities, open space and landscaping. Construction of a new vehicular accesses off Freestone Grove and Cheviot Road (Outline application with all matters reserved).

Public Participation

Paddy Griffin spoke in objection to the application

Derren Nugent spoke in objection to the application

Cllr Philip Harcourt of Westbury Town Council spoke in objection to the application.

Verity Giles-Franklin, Senior Planning Officer, introduced a report which recommended that the application for a residential development for up to 40 dwellings, associated works including infrastructure, ancillary facilities, open space and landscaping be delegated to the Director of Planning to grant outline planning permission subject to the prior completion of a Section 106 legal agreement to cover the contributions identified in Section 11 of the report, and subject to planning conditions.

The application was submitted in outline with all matters reserved although the vehicular means of access to the site was referenced as being via Freestone Grove and Cheviot Road.

The application sought outline permission as per the above, to establish the principle of developing the site for housing, with a future reserved matters application to be submitted for the council’s assessment on all the various detailed aspects. 

The Committee was informed that the proposal constituted as a Plan departure from the adopted Wiltshire Core Strategy (WCS) given that the identified site fell outside the settlement limits of Westbury and was not allocated for housing and as such, the proposal was contrary to Wiltshire WCS Core Policies (CP) 1, 2 and 32.

Slides were shown to the Committee detailing the site location, the applicant's submitted plans and photos of the site and its surroundings. The Committee was advised that the site comprised agricultural land designated as a combination of 3a and 3b land, that bordered existing housing to the north known as Mill Brook. Housing at the Knoll was found to the south and to the east was the adopted Coach Road which was an existing single-track road with limited passing places.

The site was confirmed as being in flood zone 1 (i.e. land that has the lowest risk of fluvial flooding). The site was also located within the designated buffer zones for the Salisbury Plain Special Protection Area (SPA) and the Bath & Bradford on Avon Bats Special Area of Conservation (SAC); and found within the grey-hatched zone associated with the Trowbridge Bat Mitigation Strategy SPD (TBMS).

The nearby Public Rights of Way (PROW) close to the site were detailed; and Members heard from the case officer that the applicant’s proposed to have two vehicular access points to serve this development via Freestone Grove to the north and from Cheviot Road to the west, with both points shown on a submitted plan.

The Committee was also advised on the emerging Wiltshire Local Plan allocating land for housing off Bratton Road and to the east of Coach Road for up to 260 dwellings close to the application site as set out in draft Policy 62, which if adopted and implemented, would enclose the application site before the Committee with housing. Whilst the emerging Local Plan could not be afforded significant weight, the site allocation illustrated the planned housing growth commitment  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

Any other items of business, which in the opinion of the Chairman, should be taken as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items, so the Chairman thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting.