CALNE Town Council's Planning, Licensing and Highways Consultative Committee has said they object to the planning application put forward to Wiltshire Council for yet more homes in Calne.
The application, submitted by Castlewood Commercial Properties, outlines plans to build 205 new homes and 0.75ha of employment land and ancillary uses, open space, vehicular and pedestrian accesses, landscaping, drainage measures and other associated works including the demolition of existing commercial units and structre at the site in Penn Hill.
According to Wiltshire Council's Core Strategy Calne comes under the Market Town definition, which states “Having the ability to support sustainable patterns of living, through their current levels of facilities, services and employment opportunities.
The committee noted that none of these criteria are being met in Calne, the closure of many retail outlets in town including CoOp and M&Co has left the shopping precinct visibly compromised. Our water and sewage systems are already overwhelmed - recent flooding, including raw sewage on the Regents Park estate has already shown that these facilities are not capable of supporting current developments let alone additional ones.
There is no evidence within the proposal that indicates the timely delivery of needed new infrastructure including new GPs dentists and schools. Our doctor surgeries and dentists are heavily oversubscribed with many residents forced to travel outside of Calne for appointments.
The closure of the large shops coupled with the loss of Fabrinet on Porte Marsh has led to the loss of hundreds of jobs.
Additionally, Calne and Calne without is well over the 1605 (1440 + 165) houses it is required to supply under the current plans. Whilst the new local plan suggests more housing, this is still in draft and has not been ratified to date.
Concerns were also raised about air quality control and promoting sustainable transport. Calne Town Council say they will continue to object to large developments which are contrary to Planning Policy and do not provide infrastructure or employment land.
You can read the full objection to the plans here: https://www.calne.gov.uk/news/planning-objection-pl-2023-07216-opp-land-at-penn-hill-calne-wiltshire-sn11-8rr/
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