The major redevelopment plans for the former Bowyer’s factory in Trowbridge will go ahead despite changes to national planning policy.

Councillors voted unanimously in favour of the proposal at the Strategic Planning Committee meeting on Wednesday, April 18,

Developer Innox Mills’ hybrid planning bid was first submitted to the council in April 2021 and proposed up to 284 new homes on the derelict site, which closed in 2008.

On November 29, the Strategic Planning Committee voted to grant planning permission, subject to a S106 legal agreement.

The legal agreement in question has yet to be completed, therefore, Wiltshire Council was obliged to review the application, taking into account the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which was adjusted in December 2023.

The changes mean that Wiltshire Council must demonstrate a minimum of a four-year supply for new housing, which is a reduction from the previous minimum five-year supply.

At Wednesday’s meeting, the Strategic Planning Committee considered the application under the new framework.

Given that the land was already allocated in the Wiltshire Local Plan, it was recommended that the committee continue to approve the development.

Local councillor Stewart Palmen, who had previously described the plans as a “key milestone” for Trowbridge, approved of the recommendation.