Employer wins approval for massive warehouse metres from homes
People living nearby say they will impacted by noise day and night
A Wiltshire employer has won approval to build a massive warehouse in a market town, after saying it would move to Coventry with the loss of nearly 200 local jobs if planning permission was denied.
Gompels Healthcare wants to build a 2450,000 sq ft warehouse and offices on land it owns to the east of Melksham. The building would be 57 feet tall.
From the warehouse, the firm would supply products including disposable gloves, incontinence products, cleaning supplies, and first aid equipment in the ‘highly competitive’ care and nursery sectors across the UK.
At a meeting of Wiltshire Council’s strategic planning committee this morning (Tuesday), councillors considered an application for outline planning permission, which would agree the development in principle. The applicant would still have to return with detailed plans.
Planners heard from residents who lived more than 30 metres from the façade of the proposed warehouse.
“The impact on our homes will be significant and unavoidable,” one said. “Our gardens and living spaces will be dominated by shadow.”
He called the application “wholly unreasonable,” saying the houses closest to the site would face noise, day and night, from HGVs loading and unloading.
He said both he and his neighbour had been diagnosed with anxiety and depression as a result of the planning application.
But Paddy Gompels said: “This is a family business delivering 275 meaningful local jobs, from warehouse roles to high-tech programming and pharmacy services.
“It will allow young people to train and build a career without feeling they have to leave Wiltshire behind.”
He said councillors had the chance to “say yes to hundreds of jobs and millions of pounds of investment.”
Meanwhile, Sam Gompels told how the family had grown the firm from a single shop in 1967 to a £168 million business employing 196 people, 90 per cent of whom are from Melksham.
“Today, you have a choice. Back this development or follow the advice of those who failed to plan for employment growth,” he told the committee.
And he warned decision-makers that after six years and ten potential sites investigated, “our business cannot afford to wait any longer,” and the firm had identified a suitable site at Coventry.
“We would hate to leave. But if the application is refused, then leave we must.”
The impact on neighbours and flooding risk were debated. Cllr Nick Baker (Laverstock, Liberal Democrats) said there were “compelling arguments on both sides.”
Cllr Bridget Wayman (Nadder Valley, Conservative) said the need for employment outweighed amenity for residents.
Cllr Nigel White (Winsley & Westwood, Liberal Democrat) agreed, saying having no job was “just as stressful” as having a distribution centre built near your house.
Committee chairman Ernie Clark (Hilperton, Independent) said the application was “one of the trickiest I’ve come across” in 20 years on planning committees.
“I have every sympathy with residents, but jobs are hard to come by,” he said.
A motion to refuse planning permission – at the recommendation of planning officers – fell.
Councillors were then told that due to the scale of the proposed warehouse, the decision to grant planning permission would not be theirs to take.
Instead, the matter would be passed to the Secretary of State with a recommendation from the council to approve planning permission.
That vote passed, with the council expecting a decision from the Secretary of State within a month.