26 Houses West of the Tennis Court

Representatives of Green Square and Black Box came to the Parish Council last week to present their proposals and take questions about the 26 houses being built west of the tennis court.  You can read about this and comment on proposals here

These are the comments sent too Wiltshire Council after the meeting:

• We note the changes that have been made since the last time the Parish Council considered this proposal. These include the biodiversity measures, the greater space allocated for public use, the changes to housing and road layouts, the wet area to the north of the development, and the provision for bats within the pill box thus protecting this important heritage asset from human interference and possible damage.
• The positive biodiversity measures – the orchard, the additional hedges, wetland, the shrubs and trees – are particularly welcome for a site that becomes a significant new settlement edge to the village. When viewed from the west this will provide substantial soft shielding of the hard-edged physical structures.
• A view from the south (from where most people will view the development) will be more difficult to soften because of the lie of the land as it rises towards St George’s Road and St George’s Court. At present all south-facing views in the papers are presented from Pound Lane, rather than from the tow path which will be a prominent viewing point.  Because of this, we should like to see a change of colour to the housing stock.  Available artists’ impressions suggest that Weinerberger Sunset Red Multi-facing brick will predominate throughout with buff Oolite recon stone in the minority (except at the south edge of the plot).  We think it would provide a more harmonious blending were there to be more buff in the mix, especially for properties facing north.
• We note that, despite our comments where we had wanted any open space to be to the west of the site, the open rectangle of unused space remains on the eastern edge of the site, but that it has been reduced in size to accommodate the orchard and the pill box area. We were told by the developers that there is no intention to do anything with this in the short term, leaving it as grass.  If this is to remain as grass and (probably) fenced off, the Parish Council would like to see this turned into a wild flower area using wild flower mixes that are authentic to Wiltshire.  Just keeping it as field grass would be to miss an opportunity to increase biodiversity even more than is proposed, whilst providing much joy and pleasure.
• It is obvious to us that the developers intend to make a planning application at some future point to build 6 to 8 houses on this land, although they never say so explicitly. We feel that we need to make it clear that the Parish Council will vigorously oppose such a move.  Given that the parish has exceeded its housing allocation up to 2036, that land looks likely to remain undeveloped for a long time.
• In the original drawings about this development, the whole of the space on the eastern edge of the site was designated as public open space. Now only a small area is.   We should like to see the whole of the rectangular space be part of the current development with the entire area being a community orchard.
• Concern was raised by members of the public about storm water drainage causing additional problems with the (already compromised) culvert in Pound Lane with the risk to the rare vertical rail anti-tank device which lies adjacent to it. We do not know whether this is an issue for the developer or Wiltshire Council, but we want this to be addressed within reserved matters with clear mitigating measures that are also sensitive to the WWII anti-tank heritage.
• There were also concerns raised by members of the public about the proposed paths onto the byway and onto footpath SEMI 9/10, with the feeling that this would be a site for anti-social behaviour.