Go-ahead for £100m retirement plan (From Wiltshire Times)

Go-ahead for £100m retirement plan

8:07pm Thursday 14th February 2008 in Corsham By Katie Adams

PLANS for a £100m state-of-the-art retirement village in Corsham which would create up to 65 jobs were given the backing of town councillors last night.

The application to develop the former HMS Royal Arthur site in Westwells Road, which has been disused for the past 10 years, includes a 75-bed care home, 221 apartments, a GP surgery, hydrotherapy complex, post office and 283 car parking spaces.

Similar applications have been submitted in the past, but refused by council planners.

These latest plans have been put forward by Lunney Assets Corporation, which is being represented by WSP Development and Transportation group.

Corsham Town Council's planning committee backed the project but called on Wiltshire County Council's highways department to address traffic issues in the area.

Councillors debated issues like the height of some of the buildings planned, with some due to be up to three storeys high, leaving neighbours worried about the visual impact on the area.

Town and county councillor Peter Davis said: "I welcome the application because I think it is something needed in the Corsham area.

"I hope that this one goes ahead, I would support this application and recommend it for approval.

"I am for development in that area and I don't think that three-storey dwellings will be out of place.

"But there is no reason why we shouldn't say we prefer two-storey buildings instead."

Cllr Jock Fraser said he feared if this application were refused the site could end up as a housing development in years to come.

He said his reservations were over the access to the site and the committee should ensure a GP surgery would definitely be part of the plans, to stop more strain being placed on existing health facilities in Corsham.

Councillors agreed that a retirement home was needed in the area and that the site had been left derelict for too long, before voting to back the application.

North Wiltshire District Council's development control committee will now examine the plans before deciding whether to grant planning permission.