Second refusal of planning application on Bratton Road leaves residents hopeful

THE BATTLE for Bratton Road tips in the favour of local residents as the second application for planning permission to erect 47 new dwellings has been refused by Wiltshire Council. However, an appeal is still on-going for consideration.

Last year, Mr R Nevill applied for planning permission to transform his land on Bratton Road into a housing development of 47 houses.

The plans were refused by Wiltshire Council in January 2017, due to the site not fulfilling Westbury’s needs, conflicting with the plan-led approach for Wiltshire and the application failing to demonstrate how the social and economic dimensions of sustainable development has been met.

Mr Nevill appealed this decision on Wednesday 9th August with an expected outcome to be finalised after a 4-day inquiry on Tuesday 1st May.

But in the meantime, in November, he resubmitted another planning application under a new name of Mr RE Nevill, using a new planning agent, Emery Planning Partner Partnership (EPPP), and continues his fight to transform his land.

This second application has now been refused with reasoning, at the time of print, not published on Wiltshire Council’s planning website. This leaves residents in the area hopeful that their surrounding green land will not be turned into a residential area.

Malcom Watson, who lives on Bratton Road said, “If they stick to the decision, i’ll be happy. It has kept the natural green boundary on the outskirts of Westbury, but whether it will stay, still remains to be seen.

“This result is good for the equestrian people who currently rent the land. It has proved helpful for a lot of children, giving them the opportunity to learn to ride horses and pet them. It has also protected the many wildlife species I see on a day-to-day basis out of my window.

“Our current situation, with the building of a roundabout on the A350 due to the new development, has caused a lot more traffic to divert on to Bratton Road to avoid the traffic lights. This has just shown what chaos can happen if more traffic is put on Bratton Road; it’s unsafe, it’s mayhem and proves the point of why it shouldn’t be allowed.

“It takes me 15 minutes to pull out of my drive in the morning at the moment taking my child to school and will be worse if cars from a housing development are also fighting to get on to the road. It’s really stupid to think they can keep expanding and not let people who live by pay the price.”

However, this isn’t the end of the battle as the first application is still ongoing, with Mr Nevill appealing the decision to refuse planning consent. The final result will be negotiated at The Laverton in Westbury during an inquiry at 10am on Tuesday 1st May lasting approximately 4 days.

“The inquiry at the Laverton will be important for people who live nearby in The Knoll, Bitham Park and Bratton Road to come  and speak up, or the situation will continue to get worse,” Malcom continued. “However, this is a step in the right direction and gives us a little hope that it will get refused once again.”