Agenda item

A report by the Case Officer is attached.

Public Participation

Mr Chris Wannell, resident, spoke in objection to the application.

Mr Steve Walls, resident, spoke in objection to the application.

Mr Mike Drury, resident, spoke in objection to the application.

Mr Steve Sensecal, agent, spoke in support of the application.

Councillor Peter Willis on behalf of Lydiard Tregoze Parish Council, spoke in objection to the application.

Councillor Paul Heaphy, on behalf of Royal Wootton Bassett Town Council, spoke in objection to the application.

The Development Management Team Leader, Lee Burman, introduced a report which recommended that authority be delegated to the Head of Development Management to grant planning permission for Mixed Development of up to 320 Dwellings, a Community Hub Comprising of 500sqm of A1/A2/A3/A4/A5/D1 & D2 Uses, Public Open Space, Landscaping, Extension to Approved Sports Hub and Access subject to the conditions and the signing of a Section 106 legal agreement. If the legal agreement was not completed within six months of delegation, the application would be refused.

Key issues were stated to include the scale of development and its visual, environmental and highways impact, and design, also including impact upon the curtilage of a nearby listed building. It was stated that the site lay outside boundaries identified in the Core Strategy meaning it should only be approved if material reasons it should and its benefits outweighed the harm. The council not currently having the required level of Wiltshire housing land supply was highlighted as a material consideration. Officers detailed the site history and the relationship between applications submitted at the site and reported on the agenda.

Members of the Committee then had the opportunity to ask technical questions of the officer. Details were sought on potential noise pollution on the site, assessment of drainage issues and mitigating proposals on the site which officers considered acceptable, and detail on relevant council policies, highway speed limits and the council’s lack of a current five-year housing land supply and the impact of that lack when weighing the planning balance.

Members of the public then had the opportunity to address the Committee, as detailed above.

Local Unitary Division Members Councillors Mollie Groom, Mary Champion and Chris Hurst then spoke in objection to the application, raising concerns about the impact on highways. Green space, overdevelopment in the community area and lack of adherence to Core Policies 1, 2 and 19.

The Committee then debated the application, noting the complexity of the site and significant potential impacts on several issues that had been raised, and it was raised whether a delay to inspect the site might resolve some of the concerns that had been raised.

Councillor Christopher Newbury, seconded by Councillor Charles Howard, moved that the application be deferred for a site visit and opportunity for request of additional information if required, and at the conclusion of discussion, it was,

Resolved:

To DEFER the application for arrangement of a site visit, and to allow members of the Committee and local Unitary members to submit requests for further information to be provided within two weeks of this meeting (i.e. no later than 22 February 2017).