Developers take planning refusal to appeal despite residents’ complaints
Wiltshire Council refused plans which would see Urchfont Garage demolished
The residents of a Wiltshire village near Devizes are going head-to-head with developers over plans to demolish garage buildings to make way for new homes.
In November 2024, a Wiltshire Council planning committee refused the proposal for Urchfont Garage, going against the planning officer’s recommendation.
Family-owned company Gaiger Bros are taking this decision to appeal in a move some residents have described as “really disappointing”.
The appeal is being handled through written representations, which can be submitted up until Thursday, February 27.
Local member, Cllr Phillip Whitehead has claimed the plans are “entirely illogical” and fail to “protect the jobs of local people”, as well as “a local service that looks after people in the village”.
He said: “You do not need to take away a thriving set of businesses to build five houses.”
Cllr Whitehead concluded: “Put the five houses somewhere else, keep our garage as it is.”
Local resident Neil Jones agreed that it would be “a huge asset to lose”.
He noted: “We hoped, maybe naively, that Gaiger would recognise that although they came into the project in good faith, believing it was something that the village wanted, the feedback they have received subsequently to that fairly obviously makes it clear that it is not something that the village wants.”
He said: “Their lack of empathy towards the situation was disappointing.”
Mr Jones believes that use of the site for residential purposes will also pose a safety risk.
He stated: “It will be a matter of time until someone ends up getting T-boned at that particular junction.”
A spokesperson for Gaiger Bros told the Local Democracy Reporter that they recognised the appeal would “disappoint some members of the local community” but that it had been made considering “all of the circumstances related to this proposal”.
They said: “The proposed change of use of this site to housing was decided as part of the preparation of the Neighbourhood Plan – a formal planning document prepared by the local community and approved by a clear majority vote taken across the whole local community in 2017.
“The landowner has been clear and consistent with the current tenant since this period regarding their intention to dispose of the site for housing.
“Our planning application responded to this locally determined housing allocation and resulted in a clear officer recommendation to grant permission, which was disappointingly overturned at planning committee.
“The officer recommendation was on the basis that our proposal is fully in accordance with local and national planning policy and delivers a high-quality new housing scheme having fully considered key design and technical issues including drainage, traffic impacts and sensitive design in a conservation area.
“It is unfortunate that the parish council chose not to engage with us at the pre-application stage to make clear their objection to the housing allocation set out in their own Neighbourhood Plan – despite our attempts to discuss the proposal with them in May, June and July 2024.
“We do recognise that the opposition to the scheme is principally on the grounds that it will result in the closure of the existing garage business.
“However, this fails to recognise that the landowner has repeatedly confirmed they have no intention to renew the current lease when it expires in May 2026.
“Accordingly, the current tenants will need to find new premises regardless of the outcome of this planning process.
They added: “We understand that the village are in the process of renewing the Neighbourhood Plan and this provides an opportunity to identify a new site for the garage to relocate to in the village.
“In the event this materialises, or alternative relocation plans are made, we and the landowner remain fully open to discussing timescales to support a smooth transition to another site.”