Housebuilder ‘navigates complex planning process’ for Salisbury scheme
Bellway has purchased a 13-acre site in Rowbarrow in Salisbury, after “navigating a complex planning process to secure consent for 86 homes”.
Bellway’s Strategic Land team worked alongside the company’s Wessex division on plans for 86 homes off Odstock Road. The application was approved by Wiltshire Council in October last year.
Work on the project involved retaining nationally important archaeology on the site, as well as optimising views of Salisbury Cathedral while protecting mature trees along the boundary.
Other design complexities successfully navigated by the team included the provision of Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG), on and off-site BNG (Biodiversity Net Gain) credits, and phosphate mitigation.
Daniel Poole, strategic land and planning manager at Bellway’s Strategic Land West team, said: “To have achieved planning consent and land purchase at Rowbarrow is rewarding for the whole project team.
“Cherishing and promoting the ancient heritage and biodiversity of the area was vitally important to the success of our proposals. By bringing together expertise from our strategic team, our divisional colleagues and specialist consultants, we satisfied each of the local authority’s requirements.
“Our colleagues at Bellway Wessex can now begin work on delivering high-quality homes in this attractive location. We know there is particularly high demand due to its proximity to Salisbury Hospital, which is the area’s largest employer.”
Bellway Wessex signed an option agreement for the land in 2018 and successfully sought a housing allocation for the site in the Wiltshire Local Plan.
A detailed planning application was submitted to Wiltshire Council in January 2020 and a resolution to grant approval was obtained in May 2022. The lengthy S106 process then followed, with planning permission being secured when the agreement was signed in October last year.
The development has been designed to avoid any direct harm to Prehistoric and Anglo-Saxon remains on site. They will be preserved in situ in an area of green open space. Before starting work on the development further archaeological fieldwork is to be carried out. The work may also include archaeological monitoring during the development and landscaping work.
There will be 52 homes for private sale, including a range of two to four-bedroom houses, and 34 affordable homes for low-cost rent or shared ownership.
The scheme will feature a large area of public open space to the south of the site close to the retained mature trees. This area will include play space for children, footpaths and wildflower planting.
Bellway will provide more than £1.1m in financial contributions towards local infrastructure and services through the S106 agreement.
Construction work is expected to begin on site this month.
