Drynham Lane, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, BA14

provision for 91 dwellings, ecological mitigation and associated infrastructure including roads/footpaths, bridge, cycleway, garages and sub - station

Authority: Wiltshire Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Inquiry
Development: residential · Major dwellings
Inspector: Singleton P

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposal is consistent with the Ashton Park Urban Extension strategic site allocation in the Wiltshire Core Strategy (CS) and the effect on the delivery of the strategic site and its movement strategy.
The suitability of the proposed access route for construction and development traffic and the effect on the character and amenity of the Southview Park residential area and the safety of all road users.
The broad extent of the shortfall in the Council's 5 year housing land supply.

What decided it

The combination of unacceptable harm to highway safety from using the Southview Park road network for construction and development access, together with the failure to bring the site forward through the required masterplanning process for the Ashton Park strategic allocation, decisively outweighed the housing and economic benefits.

The very substantial harm to highway safety and the conflict with the development plan (CP2, CP29, CP57, CP61, CP3) significantly and demonstrably outweighed the very significant weight given to housing delivery and moderate weight given to economic benefits, so the tilted balance did not operate in favour of the proposal.

Framework references: 11, 57, 60, 110, 111, 126

Plan policies cited: CP1, CP2, CP3, CP29, CP57, CP61

Read the decision letter on the Inspectorate’s site

The main issues and the deciding factor are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.

What an account adds

Draw a red line around your site and the appraisal follows.

Heritage. Listed buildings by grade and distance, conservation areas, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, heritage at risk.
Landscape and environment. Green belt, national parks and national landscapes, SSSIs, ancient woodland, SPA, SAC and Ramsar sites, nutrient catchments.
Flooding. Flood zones 2 and 3, surface water, and both again with climate change.
Transport. The 800 metre station catchment and service frequency, bus stops with their weekday frequency, the cycle network, and the Framework’s transport tests measured for the site.

Then the development plan position, the housing land supply as an Inspector last accepted it, and every appeal decided around the site with its letter.

Every English appeal since 2016, with the letter behind it wherever the Inspectorate published one. Searched by meaning as well as by words, with the key case law counted live across the letters.

Casework that chases the deadlines. Applications, appeals and conditions with their statutory dates.

The judgement stays yours. The tool gathers the material and dates it.