This application for 60 houses has no redeeming features:
- The application site is not allocated in the current Development Plan;
- The site lies outside the limit of development for the village of Purton; and
- The identified requirement for housing in this community area has already been exceeded.
The proposals are in conflict with the existing Wiltshire Core Strategy and the Purton Neighbourhood Plan (in which this site was rated very poorly in terms of sustainability).
As we all know, the carriageway and footpath widths along Pavenhill into the upper part of the village are not standard, and would be unsuitable for the amounts of traffic envisaged.
The Framework Travel Plan is for an urban context, not a rural one. Given the infrequency of public transport into and out of the village, the Framework Travel Plan is a fairly flawed prospect. It also claims that the site is in close proximity to the village centre, whereas the village centre is about two kilometres away, at the other end of the village.
The Soakaway document mentions Japanese Knotweed and asbestos-containing materials and is clearly cut and paste from other documents and therefore lacks credibility. This brings into question whether all the other documents are simple cut and paste, with little respect to, or knowledge of, local conditions.
Section 4 is about the climate change emergency and actually says nothing. There is a section on sustainability and is so modest in its scope that it is virtually imperceptible.
It is not clear in whose ownership the open space remains and, therefore, the obvious conclusion to be drawn is that there may well be scope for future housing development there. Plus, there is another block of land, adjacent to this site, that can no longer be reached for farming purposes, as the access has been cut off. Therefore this suggests a further potential for housing.
So, it offers absolutely nothing to the village …. just more traffic.
The documents are here and to comment go here. Comments are required by 24 March 2022.
For the technically minded:
The proposal is outside of the settlement boundary for Purton, it is located in the open countryside and has not been allocated for residential development within the Wiltshire Core Strategy (January 2015), the Wiltshire Housing Sites Allocation Plan (February 2020) or the Purton Neighbourhood Plan (2018). The development fails to meet any of the special circumstances for the creation of additional residential development in such circumstances listed under Paragraph 4.25 of the Wiltshire Core Strategy. Therefore, the proposal is contrary to Core Policies 1, 2, and 19 of the Wiltshire Core Strategy, Saved Policy H4 of the North Wiltshire Local Plan and the Purton Neighbourhood Plan.
The proposal is in conflict with the development plan taken as a whole. As such, the proposal fails to constitute and secure sustainable development as required by the National Planning Policy Framework, specifically paragraphs 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15 and 47 and is contrary to the development strategy of the development plan.