Residents rally against Warminster housing plans

Residents in Warminster are campaigning against plans to build 135 homes on land at the town’s eastern edge. 

Bellway Homes is preparing a planning application for land at Home Farm, including 40% affordable housing, with over half of the 5.9-hectare site retained as publicly accessible open space. Proposals were unveiled at a recent public consultation at the Civic Centre.

Residents say the site is unsuitable for development due to the lack of suitable access, the loss of an important rural buffer for Warminster, and the risk of harm to several significant heritage assets and Bishopstrow Hotel, one of the town’s largest employers.

Campaigners say the site has already been judged inappropriate for housing. In 2020, a government-appointed planning inspector’s report for Wiltshire Council concluded that “serious doubts remain over whether a form of development would be possible that would not have an unacceptable degree of impact on the character, appearance or significance of heritage assets.”

Nick Parker, chair of the East Boreham Business and Residents Action Group (EBBRAG), said, “There are serious concerns around conservation. The history, heritage and wildlife of the area are a resource in their own right, and none of that has been properly addressed. The proposals don’t deal with the pressures or losses this development would place on Warminster.”

Historic England has previously noted that the site sits within the settings of several highly designated heritage assets, including Battlesbury Hill Fort, Middle Hill Round Barrow, Scratchbury Hill Fort, King Barrow, Bowl Barrow, Cranborne Chase Dark Skies, several listed properties and the Bishopstrow Conservation Area.

Plans for the site submitted in 2016 by developer Hallam Land Management were withdrawn prior to the inspector’s report in 2020. The group says issues identified by the Planning Inspector remain unresolved.

“Nothing has changed in the past five years,” said Nick. “Bellway haven’t mitigated anything from the last Planning Inspector’s report. They are proposing the same entrance and the same issues regarding potential damage to historic and conservation assets.”

EBBRAG has also raised concerns over a ‘profoundly flawed’ Neighbourhood Plan process. In a recent council survey, 61% of respondents opposed building on Home Farm, but residents say their views have been ignored. 15 potential sites were initially considered in the Plan, but the Town Council Steering Group narrowed the options to three – a decision EBBRAG says was made without public consultation. With one of the sites just a small development of three homes and the recent withdrawal of council support for the Ashley Coombe/Fanshaw Way site, EBBRAG says this leaves Home Farm as the only option.

“By leaving Home Farm as the only site, the people of Warminster have no choice,” said Nick. “This site should never have been included in the Neighbourhood Plan due to the problematic issues at the location and the findings of the planning inspector’s report. They shouldn’t have selected this site in the first place. They should have checked the historical documents. The process is utterly flawed from start to finish.”

“I further don’t feel Warminster residents have been allowed to be sufficiently engaged in this process. Decisions made to date lack rigour, accountability and consensus. What was the point of council-led residents’ meetings, asking for views and taking part in surveys if every single thing we said is being ignored? 61% said don’t build on Home Farm. How can you progress the site after that?”

“The net result of this process has been for Bellway to prepare an application for speculative development, the very outcome a Neighbourhood Plan was meant to prevent. We also know Ashley Combe is also subject to a speculative planning application currently being processed. The Neighbourhood Planning process is therefore thoroughly discredited, profoundly undemocratic and lacks accountability for key decisions. The council needs to reflect on its own research which identifies the key concerns of its residents, namely the degradation of services due to overdevelopment and the critical loss of the open green space and historical assets which define our unique town.”

Local MP Andrew Murrison has also voiced his opposition to the proposed development.

Town council response

A Warminster Town Council spokesperson said, “Warminster Town Council is considering site allocation, where local people choose which sites they would like to see houses on and if this is agreed, the rest of the town has protection for five years from unwanted planning applications on other sites.

“The town council carried out an informal consultation over which of 15 sites might be put forward for housing. One of these sites was Home Farm.

“Three sites were shortlisted but information about all 15 was provided to the public.

“Although there was opposition to Home Farm, this was from 356 residents out of 14,000 + over 18’s that live in Warminster. Their views were taken into account as proposed conditions that would have to be met before Home Farm was developed.

“Warminster Town Council is to hold in the New Year an 8-week consultation about the entire Draft Neighbourhood Plan. That will allow everybody in Warminster to have their say about whether they support the proposals put forward.

“This will be covered extensively in the press, on social media, online and in person.

“The response to that consultation will be considered and at that point changes will be made to the draft plan which could include removing Home Farm as a proposed site allocation.   

“The Neighbourhood Plan Formal Public Consultation gives all residents another opportunity to share their views. As yet, no site has yet been allocated.”

Public consultation 

A spokesperson for Bellway Strategic Land said, “We are currently consulting the community in and around Warminster about our proposals for the land at Home Farm.

“These plans include up to 135 energy-efficient new one to five-bedroom homes, of which 40 per cent would be affordable housing, to meet the needs of local people.

“More than 50 per cent of the site would be dedicated as publicly accessible open space, with children’s play areas, new walking and cycling routes, parkland tree-planting and new wildlife habitat. This would create a valuable amenity for the local community to enjoy as well as enhancing the biodiversity of the site.

“Our plans have been shaped by engagement with Historic England, which has confirmed that development in this location will be seen within the context of the existing settlement of Warminster. The proposals are sensitive to the site’s location close to Bishopstrow Conservation Area and Battlesbury Hillfort, with a substantial green buffer being retained between the site and the conservation area to the south and east.

“Our plans to create a safe vehicular, pedestrian and cycle access to the development from Boreham Road, by expanding the existing Home Farm junction, have been agreed in principle with Wiltshire Highways.

“The site at Home Farm has been identified as a potentially suitable site for residential development through the Warminster Neighbourhood Plan process. In spring of this year, the Town Council carried out a consultation on 15 sites for inclusion in the draft Neighbourhood Plan, and the site at Home Farm was one of three sites shortlisted as having the potential to help meet the town’s housing needs.

“Bellway wishes to fully support the site’s proposed allocation in the Neighbourhood Plan and is committed to ongoing engagement with the Town Council, Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group and other key stakeholders as consultation on the Neighbourhood Plan continues in the new year.”

The public consultation on the proposals runs until Friday 5th December. For more information, visit https://www.landathomefarmconsultation.com/.

Comments can also be submitted to: landathomefarm-consultation@lichfields.uk.

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