Planning decisions made by Wiltshire Council recently

Royal Wootton Bassett: Chris Hale of 178 High Street has won planning permission to demolish an existing two-storey annex at his property and replace it with a two-storey rear extension.

Seend: Steve Vaux has won planning permission to build one four-bedroom home, as well as 10 affordable houses at agricultural land, Park Farm, Seend Cleeve.

This is despite heavy opposition from residents who wrote 45 letter objecting to the bid. Their main concerns included the bid being away from the heart of the village, lack of facilities, an increase in traffic, the bid conflicting with the Neighbourhood Plan. Residents also questioned the need for affordable housing in the area.

However, there were also 56 letters received by Wiltshire Council supporting the build plans. In support, the letters cited the bid’s design, community support, housing need and the need to attract younger people to stay in the area.

The mix of housing will include two one-bedroom, five two-bedroom and three three-bedroom houses. Wiltshire Council’s planning officers declared that the designs did not constitute over development of the area, adding that the scale of the bid was “respectful” of its surroundings.

“In the case of this application, the Council has stated earlier than it considers itself without a five year housing land supply and thus the tilted balance applies on this count for that reason alone,” the officer added.

“The lack of identified harm, coupled with the benefits stated above, would indicate that the balance lies in favour of approving the development subject of course, to any conditions outlined in this report.”

Winterbourne Bassett: Tony Iles of Mulberry House, 36 High Street has been refused planning permission to build a single house on 35 High Street.

In their report, officers said that the bid was “outside the limits of development” as set out by Wiltshire Council’s core policies.

They said: “The residential development of the site would detract from the character of the countryside and consolidate the otherwise loose scattering of development to the west of the village, to the detriment of the rural character and landscape of the area and North Wessex Downs area of natural beauty.”

Officers added that because of the distance of the proposed development from the majority of services, facilities and amenities those who would occupy the property would be “heavily reliant” on the use of private transport for day-to-day life. This, as the report points out, is contrary to the council’s principles for sustainable development and the aim to reduce the need for travel.

“The application was accompanied by a Preliminary Ecological Appraisal Report which confirmed that further survey work for Great Crested Newts needed to be undertaken by the applicants or that use could be made of the District Level Licensing Scheme,” they added.

“Neither option has been employed and therefore, the Local Planning Authority cannot ascertain whether suitable mitigation can be achieved for Great Crested Newts.”

Grittenham: Planning permission has been refused to Harvey Lloyd Fisheries who had bid to convert a redundant agricultural building into a house with a self-contained annex at Ivy House Lakes on Whitehill Lane.

Planning officers said: “The proposed development, namely the conversion of an existing building to provide additional single dwelling and annex outside any settlement boundary at this rural site in the open countryside fails to accord with the spatial strategy.

“The proposal would also result in the provision of an additional rural workers dwelling on the site which has not been robustly justified in terms of its functional or financial need to support the existing rural business.

“The proposed development would result in a further dwelling and annex in the open countryside that would fail to have reasonable access to local services and would rely upon private means of transport to access those services.”

Semington: Mr and Mrs Belecke has been granted planning permission following a successful bid. The couple, who reside in 19 Bradley Road, Trowbridge, will now be able to build a single-storey brickwork horizontal extension with a flat roof onto the property found at 37 Pound Close in Semington.