Three controversial planning applications that were previously approved have now been reversed as Wiltshire Council takes into account the new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

At the end of 2023, the government published revisions to the NPPF that included a relaxation of the need for local authorities to provide a rolling five-year housing land supply.

The effects of the five-year housing land supply had previously been criticised by certain councillors in Wiltshire, who suggested it was pushing them into approving applications they would otherwise refuse.

Wiltshire Council is now only required to show a supply of deliverable sites sufficient to provide a minimum of four years’ worth of housing.

In the Strategic Planning Committee meeting in Trowbridge County Hall on Wednesday, March 6, councillors were told that Wiltshire Council is presently demonstrating a 4.59-year supply, which exceeds the necessary threshold.

Councillors were invited to reconsider a number of applications that had previously been decided upon.

Referring to the impact of the previous five-year housing land supply, the chairman of the meeting, Councillor Howard Greenman, said: “We were being drawn into ugly planning decisions with unsuitable housing in unsuitable locations.”

Over the course of the meeting, councillors voted to reverse the decisions previously made for the following applications:

- Outline application for up to 205 dwellings on land west of Westbury Road, Warminster

Outline planning permission for this housing development was granted in November 2023, amid claims of “planning anarchy.”

Local residents attended Wednesday’s meeting to fight their case for a second time.

Conservative Councillor Bill Parks said: “Additional pressure is already being placed on the town’s overstretched road infrastructure, education facilities, medical and dental practices.”

He added: “The application is met with universal local opposition. I, as a Wiltshire councillor, the town, the nearby parish council, and even Andrew Murrison, our MP, have all opposed the application, along with the nearby residents.”

In light of the updated NPPF, councillors voted unanimously to reverse their previous decision and refuse the application.

- Planning application for up to 145 homes on land at Glenmore Farm, The Ham, Hawkeridge Road, Westbury

This planning application was also approved in November 2023, despite claims people living there would be "in danger."

A planning consultant representing the applicant attended the meeting on Wednesday and said that reversing the decision “solely due to arbitrary government policy on housing land calculations” could be a “disservice” to the community.

She said: “In light of the housing crisis plaguing Wiltshire and the alarming discrepancies in housing allocation and actual provision, the need for swift action cannot be overstated.”

Nevertheless, the chairman of Heywood Parish Council maintained that it “vehemently opposed” the application.

Councillors voted unanimously to reverse their previous decision and refuse the application.

- Outline planning permission for up to 53 homes on land to the West of Semington Road, Melksham

Outline planning permission for this application was also granted in November 2023, in a tense meeting during which the development was compared to a “council estate” and “slum of the future.”

Conservative Councillor Jonathon Seed described the meeting in question as “depressing” and said he “could not” support the application.

Meanwhile, Lib Dem Councillor Adrian Foster said it would be a “great disappointment” to withdraw approval for the development.

He said: “To ignore some of the people that are in our society who have the greatest need, on this occasion, I think is really sad.”

All but one councillor voted to reverse the previous decision and refuse the application.