Developers are only required to consider potential flooding issues at the site they are developing. Because of the geography of Warminster, the additional water generated by extra homes actually all drains towards and raises the phosphate levels of our River Wylye – a unique, internationally recognised chalk stream and this additional water also
causes significant flooding issues along the way.
This isn’t at all surprising when you consider that National Statistics estimate that all these new homes would generate in the region of over 700,000 extra litres of waste water per day.
We are only required to add 90 new homes to Warminster in the next 10 years+, why would we risk our local environment by piling in so many more new large scale developments? We need to remove site selection from the draft Neighbourhood Plan now!
Warminster needs YOU to find a voice
As a resident of Warminster, you will already be aware of the huge West Urban Extension/Jubilee Gardens where 1000 new homes are currently being built, with another 500 due by 2042. Did you also know that a further approximately 700+ houses are at the planning stage?
- Cley Hill View – 227 homes already approved and being advertised
- Ashley Coombe – 77 homes; planning permission applied for
- Westbury Road – 205 homes; rejected once in 2025, outline planning applied for again
- Home Farm – 135 homes; planning application expected imminently (the Neighbourhood Plan suggests 90 but the developer – Bellway Homes – would like 135)
- Grovelands – 68 homes; building already started
Are these homes ALL really needed?
Are they being planned in a responsible and sustainable way? They are all eating up ‘green’ areas, rather than using brown field sites.
What impact will these developments have on the lives of people already living in our town?
Despite what the Town Council would have us believe, a Neighbourhood Plan does not offer Warminster protection against these speculative development bids.
The whole premise of naming a potential site in the Neighbourhood Plan is to offer legal protection for the rest of Warminster for up to five years. Consider this example – Melksham Parish Council had an adopted Neighbourhood Plan, fully supported by local residents which excluded a site – Snarlton Farm – from designated building. On appeal, the developer has now gone to The Secretary of State for Housing, taking the decision right out of local hands.
And consider this – by the time the current draft Neighbourhood Plan is finalised, it is likely that all of the developments listed above will already have gone through the planning process and have been approved, not just the one they have named.
What can you do?
- Register on the EBBRAG website. Our contact form is here
- Make it known to our Town Council that you do not support any more large scale developments, in the absence of improved infrastructure and local services. You can email the council here.
How?
- Sign up to say you agree with our Open Letter to The Town Council.
- Register your concerns in the draft Warminster Neighbourhood Plan Consultation.