Wiltshire housing development refused planning permission
A planned housing development by Wain Homes has been refused permission by Wiltshire Council.
The developer had wanted to build 61 homes at Widham Farm in Purton, near Swindon, alongside employment land, but with no affordable housing.
The scheme had received 370 objection letters.
Wiltshire Council’s corporate director for place, Parvis Khansari, said the site has not been allocated for residential development and “fails to meet any of the special circumstances for the creation of additional residential development in the open countryside”.
He said: “The benefits of the proposal have been fully considered but the adverse impacts would significantly and demonstrably outweigh those benefits, when assessed against the policies in the NPPF [National Planning Policy Framework] taken as a whole.
Khansari also highlighted that the plans “would result in harm to the local landscape, recreational opportunities, the character and visual amenity of the immediate locality.”
He also criticised the “poor layout” of the proposed scheme because of how close the employment land would be to the residential development, and the lack of connection with Purton.
