Land West of Westbury Road, Warminster, BA12 0AL

Erection of up to 205 no. dwellings, community hub, public open space, access, infrastructure and associated works, with all other matters reserved

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

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The main issue is whether the proposal would be acceptable in terms of flood risk.

What decided it

The failure to undertake the required flood risk sequential test, where built development was shown to lie within flood zones 2/3, meant the proposal posed an unacceptable risk of flooding that outweighed its benefits.

the substantial benefits of housing delivery, affordable housing and community facilities were outweighed by the very substantial weight given to the harm from the unacceptable flood risk, where the sequential test had not been undertaken

Framework references: 11, 174, 175

Plan policies cited: Core Policy 1 (Settlement Strategy), Core Policy 2 (Delivery Strategy), Core Policy 31 (Spatial Strategy: Warminster Community Area), Core Policy 67 (Flood Risk)

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.