500 home estate approved for edge of Melksham
Concerns had been raised to Wiltshire Council about 'overdevelopment'
Plans for up to 500 homes have been approved by a Wiltshire Council planning committee, despite the council receiving 198 letters relating to the scheme.
The homes will be located in Melksham East, on land at Blackmore Farm on Sandridge Common, where the existing agricultural buildings will be demolished.
A spokesperson for applicant Gleeson Land told councillors that the development would help to meet the “genuine housing and employment need within Wiltshire”.
A strategic planning committee meeting heard about issues that were causing “a great deal of concern to the local community”, such as the safety of the A3102 access and the pressure of such a development on local facilities.
The vice chair of Melksham Without Parish Council, Cllr David Pafford, suggested the proposal was “cutting corners” and leaving “any perceived problems to be resolved later under a future section 106 agreement”, a process he claimed local councils are “excluded” from.
Mrs Teresa Strange, clerk to the parish council, argued that the development would be bigger than many villages in Wiltshire without adequate facilities.
Cllr Nick Holder noted that although he did support “plan-led development at this site”, 500 houses were “too many”.
Gleeson Land previously submitted plans for 650 dwellings on the same site but was turned down by Wiltshire Council in March 2024.
Managing director of Tor and Co, Jacqueline Mulliner, was present at the meeting to speak on behalf of Gleeson Land.
She listed some of the contributions proposed by the applicant, such as £76,000 of local cycle and walking improvements, £750,000 of bus service enhancements, £118,000 for a 3G artificial pitch at Melksham Community Campus, and £513,000 towards NHS healthcare improvements.
She said: “The development would help to address the genuine housing and employment need within Wiltshire in a way envisaged by this council, providing up to 500 dwellings and employment space on land to the east of Melksham.”
The application also includes up to 5,000 square metres of employment floorspace and land for a primary school.
After considering the plans for almost three hours, councillors voted to approve them, with conditions that included a push for one hectare of land to be reserved for a community hub.
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