Chippenham Town Council say no to proposed new housing in Wiltshire Council’s Local Plan Review Consultation

Chippenham Town Council say no to proposed new housing in Wiltshire Council’s Local Plan Review Consultation

 At the Extraordinary Full Council meeting of Chippenham Town Council on 25 February 2021, Councillors were unanimous in their agreement of rejecting the proposition of new housing development in Chippenham. This extraordinary meeting was called to enable Councillors to agree on their formal response to Wiltshire Council’s public consultation on its Local Plan Review.

Councillors were presented with a detailed report from the Planning Officer on behalf of the Council’s Planning, Environment and Transport Committee who met previously on 18 February 2021 to form their response for Full Council to consider.

Based on the thorough and detailed recommendations of the PET Committee, Full Council unanimously agreed to inform Wiltshire Council that their case for Chippenham housing numbers and locations has not been adequately made, and is not accepted for the following reasons:

1. The housing target allocated to Chippenham is much too high (at 9,225 and equivalent to 20% of the total number for Wiltshire), bears no relation to Chippenham’s actual housing needs and is predicated on substantial numbers of people relocating here, in order to commute back out, causing more congestion and significant damage to the climate.

2. The proposals to develop large suburbs to the East (Site 1) and South (Site 2) would have a severe adverse impact on the town and cause unacceptable damage to the local environment through the destruction of high-quality farmland and wildlife habitat in the Avon and Marden Valley.

3. The Chippenham housing numbers and their location should not be dictated by a grant application for a road, which did not undergo any public consultation, and which serves to predetermine the spatial strategy.

4. Wiltshire Council needs to develop an alternative spatial strategy, which is employment led, “appropriate in scale” and “environmentally sustainable” as stated in the Vision for the Chippenham Neighbourhood Plan.

Read the report in full HERE

Mayor of Chippenham, Councillor Teresa Hutton, who chaired the meeting said; “We were delighted to welcome many members of public to this important meeting, they voiced concern for the future of the town they love and spoke with passion against the plans proposed by Wiltshire Council. Chippenham Town Councillors echo their concerns, we simply cannot support the proposals by Wiltshire Council.”

See Wiltshire Councils consultation website for more details HERE

The Local Plan Review Consultation runs from Wednesday 13 January 2021 to Tuesday 09 March 2021