Town councillors have unanimously objected to a planning application for homes on land off Ashley Coombe in line with strong arguments from local residents at the Planning Advisory Committee on Monday 16th February.
The planning team heard from passionate residents who opposed outline planning application for the erection of up to 77 homes, public open space, landscaping and sustainable urban drainage system, with vehicular access off Ashley Coombe.
Cllr Phil Keeble explained: “The committee unanimously objected to the Ashley Combe application on numerous points planning reasons. The site was rejected by the Neighbourhood Plan process. It is exactly the sort of development we are seeking to avoid.”
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Cllr Keeble continued: “We can’t stop developers putting forward sites hoping they will get planning permission, but if we allocate a site for 90 houses in the Neighbourhood Plan, we can get 5 years protection from such applications where the balance is tilted back in favour of the community. The Planning Advisory Committee takes its role seriously. I hope the developer listens to the committee and the public and withdraws its planning application.”
Members resolved to object to the application on the following grounds:
1. Access, road safety and increased traffic – The proposal concentrates all housing within a single zone served by a single access point. This design will funnel traffic into one location, significantly increasing vehicle movements and congestion in an already constrained area.
The access roads are narrow, winding, and include blind bends. The proposed junction with Deverill Road is located on the crest of a hill, creating poor visibility and a heightened risk of collisions.
The development will inevitably increase traffic onto the A36, a road that has experienced multiple serious collisions near Warminster in recent years.
The site is located at a significant distance from town amenities. There is no clear provision for safe cycle routes, and public transport availability is questionable, resulting in extra reliance on private vehicles.
2. Proximity to the sewage works – the proposal puts housing within the buffer zone around the sewage work. The odour is likely to be a nuisance and the presence of swarms of flies will have a public health impact.
The log of sniff tests are woefully inadequate and contain no tests during the 5 hottest months of the year. The environment agency has received 182 complaints in the past 3 years.
Odour and safety impacts linked to the Malaby Gas Biodigester have not been assessed.
3. Nutrient Neutrality – The site is close to the River Wylye, an SSSI and SAC. Run-off and pollution risks threaten this European-protected chalk stream. Run-off from roads and roofs of any new development on this site will enter the stream currently in Flood Zone 2.
Wessex Water is aware that Warminster already has ongoing issues. The site also overlies an important aquifer, posing contamination risks from clearance work, building and drainage from future dwellings. Buying offsite credits does not address the harm that would be done locally.
4. Loss of biodiversity – The site supports protected species such as newts, kites, hedgehogs, deer, swifts, toads, woodpeckers and pollinators. A badger sett also exists on the proposed site. At least four species of bat have been recorded in the designated area. There are no reliable plans for biodiversity net gains. The development would negatively impact on the dark skies area
5. Archaeology – Wiltshire Council Archaeology Service have acknowledged that archaeological findings have been identified on the site. Impacts have not been adequately assessed. Test trenches should be dug before any layout is considered and any planning application is put forward and make any outline planning application fraught with risk of harm.
6. Design – Two and three-storey dwellings will overlook existing bungalows. The design is essentially suburban
7. The site is outside the settlement policy boundary; it has been excluded from the Draft Warminster Neighbourhood Plan that is currently undergoing Regulation 14 consultation.
8. Lack of public art and public open space – There is no provision for public art and the proposed public open space is of low quality and poor layout.
9. The topography of the site is such that there is a risk of flooding, particularly from surface water.
10. The application is in outline form, with all matters except access reserved, we are concerned that the Planning Authority is being asked to accept the principle of development without sufficient certainty over how these impacts would be addressed in practice. While outline permission may be suitable for simple and uncontroversial sites, the opposite should apply in what is a complex site which has already been rejected for inclusion in the merging Neighbourhood Plan.
The objection will now be submitted to the planning authority at Wiltshire Council. The comments from Warminster Town Council are only advisory, any decision on whether to grant planning permission and any associated conditions will be made by Wiltshire Council.
For more information contact Warminster Town Council, Tel: 01985 214847 or email: admin@warminster-tc.gov.uk
Last modified: 17 February 2026
