As you may be aware, Bellway has submitted amendments to its original speculative planning application, PL/2026/02717, and its listed building consent application, PL/2026/04915.
EBBRAG has persuaded Wiltshire Council to extend the consultation period for the amendments until 9 November 2026. You can submit objections after that date, but there is no guarantee that the Planning Officer will take them into account.
Well done to everyone who has already submitted a new objection, including some with detailed technical concerns.
From EBBRAG’s perspective, the main concerns in the amendments are as follows:
1. The proposed new site entrance
The new proposed entrance will be approximately 28 metres to the west from Home Farm Lane. This raises several concerns:
- It is close to the blind bend opposite Boreham Manor on Boreham Road.
- Cars legally parked nearby force traffic—including large military and commercial vehicles—into the opposing lane, opposite the proposed entrance.
- Traffic travelling out of Warminster around the blind bend regularly exceeds the speed restrictions.
- Several hundred additional cars, along with delivery, visitor and refuse vehicles, would affect existing traffic flows on Boreham Rd as they enter and leave the site.
- A 50 metre radius centred on the new entrance will include Home Farm Lane and 8 other private entrances/driveways, increasing risks for local residents and users of Boreham Rd.
- The road is not wide enough at the proposed entrance to accommodate a right-turn ghost lane.
- The proposal would result in the loss of a heritage wall at one of the most visible parts of a major entrance to Warminster. The Planning Inspector cited this as one of the main reasons for rejecting the Hallam proposal in 2019.
- There would be an impact on the Bishopstrow Conservation Area. The outline site boundaries along Boreham Road also appear to have been drawn incorrectly, implying a greater width to the road than is actually reality.
- There have been six non-injury vehicle accidents within 25 metres of the proposed entrance in the past five years. In each case, the cars were written off for insurance purposes; one accident resulted in a loss of £18,000.
2. Hydrology and drainage
EBBRAG will separately challenge the proposed hydrology and drainage solutions, including the multiple attenuation ponds, which it considers to be based on flawed technical analysis.
Please review the amended landscape diagrams in the documents section of application PL/2026/02717, to see the scale of the proposed solution.
- The plans include a possible pumping station near the proposed entrance if Bellway’s proposed solution does not work.
- The attenuation pond north of the Cotes and the cottages has increased significantly in size and extends towards the proposed site entrance. This siting raises particular concerns during prolonged heavy rainfall.
- Bellway’s plans appear to acknowledge concerns that the location of the attenuation ponds could contribute to additional flooding on Boreham Road.
- The proposed entrance next to the Cotes, under PL/2026/04915, would include a ramped culvert towards Boreham Road, potentially increasing the risk of surface water draining from the southern field onto the road.
- Detailed engineering information for waste water, surface water and foul-water drainage and works is lacking.
- The proposals could affect heritage features around the southern field.
- The proposed children’s playground in the southern field has been removed.
3. Green and Blue Wildlife and Bats corridors
GBI (Wildlife corridor no 7) is unique as it is only green wildlife corridor linking Salisbury Plain SAC to the River Wylye/ Avon SAC on a direct north / south axis in the Warminster and the only corridor in the east of Warminster.
- It will narrow to a mere 18m and wildlife will be expected to co-exist with road users from the new estate, footpaths for pedestrians and dog walkers and people using numerous “Trim trails”.
- Previous development to the west and the Army areas have already reduced the availability of natural, undeveloped land in East Warminster.
- The proposed development would, in EBBRAG’s view, severely affect this corridor. If the barns north of Home Farm—which currently have outline planning permission—are also developed, the corridor would effectively be closed.
- These corridors are recognised as important and should be protected under the new NPPF.
- EBBRAG considers Bellway’s proposed mitigation to be ineffective. In particular, the plans place a children’s trim trail in the middle of the corridor on its eastern side.
- Very rare bats are now known to roost on the western edge of the proposed site. Bats are protected, and their presence has led to proposed developments being refused in the past.
- There is strong evidence of a bat corridor running from Bradford on Avon to the River Wylye through Home Farm, including the roosting areas on the western side. EBBRAG will address this issue, including the need to robustly assess the impact of lighting from the development, regardless of the mitigation Bellway proposes.
- Under the new NPPF, these two issues, together with Bellway’s limited and potentially ineffective mitigation, could form major grounds for objection. EBBRAG will explore these further.
4. Landscape, heritage, economy and conservation
These issues remain critical. They were among the reasons the Planning Inspector rejected Hallam’s speculative application in 2019.
- The site remains outside the settlement boundary and is not allocated in any local or neighbourhood plan. The new entrance compounds these concerns.
- Urban sprawl effect will see Warminster develop outside the town boundary on a green field site and effectively join with existing residential buildings alongside the Bishopstrow Conservation Area, effectively linking the two currently separate settlements.
If these Bellway amendments affect any concerns raised in your previous objections, please update your comments by submitting a new objection. Please do not forget PL/2026/04915.
If you have questions or concerns that are not addressed above, please contact EBBRAG via the email address below. EBBRAG will then respond.