The first couple of days were given over to the appellant (Mr Cornell and Wainhomes South West) cross-examining the Wiltshire Council planning officers. The third day, at Cricklade was for Wiltshire Council to cross-examine the appellant’s witnesses and for third parties to make representations. Myself and Unitary Councillor Jacqui Lay made representations and then stayed on to question the appellant’s witnesses, the parish council appeared briefly to make a statement then left, and the Parish Plan stayed for most of the day. A couple of other third parties (local residents) were in attendance and spoke mainly on the issue of flooding.
As always, it is difficult to read how it all went, though we did the best we could.
One point that emerged is that the appellant has also made a submission to the Core Strategy consultation to attempt to change the designation of Purton from a Large Village (where housing is supposed to be for local need) to a Local Service Centre (like Cricklade) where housing can be for a wider area. The reason is that if the appellant does not get Widham Farm this time around then they can come back next year with a good prospect, if the designation of Purton has been changed. Or, even if they do get Widham Farm this time around (for 50 homes) then they can come back for more next year if the designation has been changed. When the Inspector at the Inquiry asked if the intention generally was to seek a further tranche of homes if they secure the initial 50 homes this time. The appellant’s agent agreed that was the intention.
So there is work to be done to ensure that Wiltshire Coucil does not change the designation of Purton. More of this in a subsequent post…
