TROWBRIDGE has lost a £400,000 investment after planners and councillors at West Wiltshire District Council took their eye off the ball.

The town was set to benefit from a new community centre on the site of the proposed Sainsbury's supermarket in Union Street.

When developer Barton Finch originally discussed the plans with the town and district council they offered to build a £400,000 community centre for the town on the site, which used to be the Usher's Brewery bottling plant.

Trowbridge Town Council jumped at the chance to have some extra investment in the town and the district council agreed.

The plans stalled while Barton Finch negotiated with different supermarkets before settling on Sainsbury's and in the meantime other developers came in with plans for different supermarkets in separate parts of the town.

When Barton Finch finally submitted its planning application to the district council's development control committee, the plans for the £400,000 community centre were missing.

Councillors and planning officers were expected to pick up the omission but it was never challenged.

After two years of discussions, during which time the site has lain idle and occupied by travellers intermittently, the proposal was given the go-ahead by the district council's planning committee on May 29 - with the community centre plan missing entirely.

Trowbridge Town Clerk Lance Allen said he was very disappointed the community centre had been overlooked.

If the town council wanted to raise the money from taxpayers it would have to charge Band D homeowners £37 extra each year.

Cllr Jeff Osborn said: "Barton Finch has got four extra flats and got out of providing the town with a valuable community centre. But you can't blame the developers. It's us that took our eye off the ball. We lost it and we'll probably never get another opportunity."

A district planning officer said: "In effect the absence of a requirement for a community building at this site left the offer of such a building in effect in the gift of the applicant.

"The council were not in a position to insist on the inclusion of such a building or to seek a commuted payment in lieu of such a building."

10:15am Tuesday 1st July 2008

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