All the latest Wiltshire Council planning decisions

Plans were approved for the Forest Gate Solar Farm in 2023, due to be located on land off the A4 at Pewsham.

Now, Wiltshire Council has approved plans for a 4.28km underground cable linking the site to Chippenham Substation.

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The plans for Forest Gate Solar Farm. (Image: Eden Renewables)

According to the application, the majority of the cable route follows existing infrastructure comprising cycle track, roads, footpaths and road verges.

The case officer report describes the remainder of the route as “modified grassland of poor condition”.

The cable will be buried beneath the ground in a trench of approximately 0.5m in width and up to 1.5m deep.

Construction is expected to take 15 to 18 weeks.

The original application proved divisive in the community, with the council receiving representations from 155 objectors and approximately 229 supporters.

In a covering letter, applicants Eden Renewables told the council: “Given the proposal’s negligible impacts on heritage, arboriculture and ecology, and the lack of impact of landscape, the proposed development is in accordance with all relevant planning policy set out in adopted and emerging development plan documents; it should therefore be approved without delay.”

Wiltshire Council sent its approval on Thursday, March 13.

In other planning news, the council has received an application requesting permission for the extension of the existing horticultural building at Midge Hall Nurseries.

The owner is the director of Hedgeworx Ltd a horticultural company which specialises in growing and selling specialist topiary, hedges and ornamental trees.

The business is located in the parish of Lydiard Tregoze, on the outskirts of Royal Wootton Bassett.

According to the plans, the success of the tree nursery over the past 14 years has resulted in requirement to provide a space for client engagement.

The application states: “The proposed development seeks to add an extension to the existing office on site, creating a suitable meeting area and viewing area. The new space will also allow for improvement of the existing facilities for staff including a new dedicated drying space for protective clothing.

“The development would provide much needed additional space to allow the nursery and the business to continue to grow.”

Wiltshire Council is expected to provide a decision on the application by May.

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Finally, north of Swindon, plans to extend an industrial estate yard have been turned down.

The application concerned Chelworth Industrial Estate and was labelled “retrospective”, which means that the changes have already been carried out.

J&B Bulk Haulage Ltd was given permission in 2019 to use the land for storing vehicles.

However, the case officer report for this latest application suggests that the condition of limiting it to 30 vehicles.

It states that aerial images show 167 tractor units extending out on the current application site.

The applicant noted: “It is true that the number of vehicles parked on the site has fluctuated over the years, most notably during the COVID pandemic when the site was effectively full. Notwithstanding therefore that the extent of open storage and vehicle parking has deviated from the agreed conditional limits the overall combined area has been treated as a single unit in terms of some of the above conditional matters already.”

Nevertheless, the case officer deemed it a “significant development in an unsustainable location, on land at risk of flooding, generating a significant increase in traffic within the local rural community”.

The details of all planning applications considered by Wiltshire Council are available on the planning and building control public register.