Land at Glenmore Farm, The Ham/ Hawkeridge Road, Westbury, BA13 4HQ

residential development (use class C3) for up to 145 homes, community orchard, children’s play areas (LEAP), tree planting, habitat creation and ecology buffers and mitigation; site drainage and associated infrastructure. All matters reserved except for access

Authority: Wiltshire Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Hearing
Development: residential · Major dwellings
Inspector: McDonald K

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

This is whether the site is suitable for the proposed development, having regard to the Council's settlement strategy.

What decided it

The Council's inability to demonstrate a five year housing land supply engaged the tilted balance under NPPF paragraph 11(d)(ii), and the substantial benefits of housing delivery outweighed the limited weight given to the conflict with the settlement strategy.

The substantial benefits of market and affordable housing delivery, together with biodiversity net gain, public open space, jobs and highway improvements, outweighed the limited weight attached to the conflict with the settlement strategy and the little weight given to the marginal loss of best and most versatile agricultural land.

Framework references: 11

Plan policies cited: CS Core Policy 1, CS Core Policy 2, CS Core Policy 32

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.