Up to 205 homes will be built west of Westbury Road in Warminster after plans were approved by Wiltshire Council. Bill Parks, councillor for Warminster North and Rural said it was a bitter outcome. Local residents, Warminster Town Council, Upton Scudamore Parish Council and local MP Andrew Murrison all objected to the plans by Barratt Homes.

Cllr Parks said: “The committee voted to support planning officers’ recommendation to approve this application. Yet another example in the county of the lack of a five year Housing Land Supply tilting the balance. The argument was lost, which will deliver the wrong houses in the wrong location on a greenfield site outside the settlement boundary.”

Councillors have expressed disappointment at the lack of response to a consultation. Fifty letters were sent to residents asking for views on plans for tree planting at Ashley Coombe. Seven responses were received.

Councillor Paul Macfarlane said the total did not demonstrate any consensus and proposed Warminster Town Council did not proceed with planting trees on the land it owns near Ashley Coombe. Three members of the Parks and Estates Committee voted to take no further action – Councillors Macfarlane, Allensby and Parks. Councillor Jack Jones abstained in the vote.

A Warminster town councillor has said the council should be ashamed of the toilet facilities in the Lake Pleasure Grounds. Conservative Denis Brett was speaking at this evening’s meeting of the Parks and Estates Committee.

At the meeting, councillors voted unanimously to spend £9,463.68 plus VAT to replace the four existing hand washing facilities in the boathouse toilets. These are over 20 years old, do not work properly and it is not possible to get replacement parts. Councillor Brett supported the proposal but urged the committee to go further. He said:

“I find the toilets absolutely awful. We should be ashamed of them.”

Warminster Town Council is exploring a long-term plan for toilet provision in the Lake Pleasure Grounds but Parks and Estates Manager Stuart Legg emphasised that the pressing need was the hand washing situation. He noted that, while toilets were being looked at, they do currently work and are being cleaned twice a day.

Wiltshire Council has received the following planning applications in the BA12 area during the last seven days:

Warminster

• Gibbs Yard Depot in Boreham Road: proposal to temporarily retain the existing storage building on site and temporarily relocate parking provision pending the construction of units for up to five years.
• Land Adjacent to Wren Close: approval of reserved matters on an already approved application for a proposed dwelling and garage.
• 12 Broadway: proposed replacement of flat roof and replacement and extension of single storey sun room.
• 23 South Street: proposed conversion of conservatory to larger single storey extension, addition of two-storey rear extension and addition of new front entrance with porch.
• 14 Mendip Close: change of use of land in front of property into garden.

Heytesbury

• The Old Laundry, Heytesbury Park: proposed alterations to two windows on west elevation.

Maiden Bradley

• Yarnfield Cottage: proposed front, rear and roof extension.

Upton Lovell

• South Farm House: proposed variation of condition to allow for holiday and tourist accommodation.

Residents of Church Street turned out in force at tonight’s Town Development meeting to oppose a proposal to paint double yellow lines along the road. Supported by the Headmaster of Warminster School, the residents asked where councillors suggested they should park.

The plan to restrict parking along the road was put forward by Deputy Mayor Phil Keeble as a solution to traffic flow in the town.

After listening to a stream of objections from local residents, councillors voted to take no further action on the plan.

Warminster councillors have been left unimpressed by plans for balancing ponds as part of proposed development at New Farm off Westbury Road. An updated report on the presence of phosphorus on the site went before the Planning Advisory Committee on Monday evening. Councillors reiterated their objection to the proposed erection of up to 205 dwellings, a community hub, public open space, access, infrastructure and associated works. Councillor Stacie Allensby spoke for the committee when she suggested that the very presence of balancing ponds in the plans are a strong indication that the site was prone to flooding.

Warminster Town Councillors have a drawn line in the sand over their opposition to Air B & Bs. The planning committee met on Monday and registered objections to an application to turn an annex into a holiday let.

The council is concerned about the impact holiday lets would have on neighbouring properties. The planning application now passes to Wiltshire Council who have the final say on whether it should or shouldn’t be approved.

The Mayor of Warminster has defended the Basil Brushes road sweeper when questioned about its regular trips to Devizes. The contaminated waste within the sweeper has to be disposed of and, at present, this involves driving the sweeper to a facility across the county. The matter was raised with Cllr Chris Robbins at the annual Town meeting.

Also at the meeting, Cllr Robbins presented the town’s annual report and urged members of the public to read about the good works of the council.

The Environment Agency has today declared a drought across the Wessex Water area. The announcement covers Bristol, Somerset, Dorset, South Gloucestershire and the southern parts of Wiltshire. The northern stretch of Wiltshire had already been put under a drought status as part of the Thames Water region.

Chris Paul, Drought Lead for the agency, said: “Despite some heavy rain over the past two weeks, it has not been enough to refill our rivers and aquifers. River levels across our Wessex area are exceptionally low – many showing the lowest flows on record. This places incredible strain on local wildlife and this is why we are moving to drought status. We are prioritising our local operations to minimise impacts in the environment.”

A town councillor has expressed his anger at the set up of hybrid meetings at the Civic Centre. Andrew Davis was not present at the start of the Town Development Committee meeting this week because he had received a notification that the meeting had been cancelled. However, the notification also included a rescheduling of the same meeting for the same time on the same day. The meeting was told that this had happened due to a technical issue with the online link to access the meeting.

Councillor Davis joined the meeting remotely but was told that he was not able to speak or vote. He chose to leave the virtual meeting and rushed to the Civic Centre to join his colleagues.

Before the end of the proceedings, he expressed his bafflement at why it was called a hybrid meeting if people online could only observe and not participate.