11:46am Thursday 14th August 2008
By Nigel Kerton
A plan for hundreds of new homes to be built on Crown land in Marlborough should only be allowed if a railway station and supermarket are included, say town councillors.
These were top of their wish list should the land to the east of Salisbury Road, opposite the Marlborough Business Park, be developed.
Crown Estates owns two major parcels of land within the town boundary that it wants to build on.
On Monday representatives from Crown Estates met with town councillors and outlined the two green field sites.
The larger is on the east side of Salisbury Road between the A346 Burbage road and existing development in Orchard Road.
Neil Hall, a consultant employed by Crown Estates, told councillors this site could accommodate 250 to 260 homes with as many as 78 to 80 affordable homes for rent or shared equity.
A smaller site, between Elcot Lane and the recently started homes development on the St John's lower school site, could take as many as 70 houses.
Crown Estates wants the local development plan review to include both sites for future development.
He said the Government had told Kennet it would have to find space for hundreds more homes by 2026 and as Marlborough was the second largest of the towns in the district it would have to take a proportion of those.
Mr Hall said the Elcot Lane and Salisbury Road sites were possibilities but not firm proposals.
He added that the Salisbury Road site service road could connect with the new St John's access road providing a southern link route around the town.
Former mayor Graham Francis has been having talks with First Great Western about re-opening a station in Marlborough connecting to the main West Country-Paddington line at Savernake.
Instead of stopping at Great Bedwyn trains would be able to continue through to Marlborough.
A route for the line would have to be left to the south of the Salisbury Road site, and a site also preserved for a station where the car park could double as a park and ride.
Coun Stewart Dobson said the site could also be the answer to the town's need for a budget supermarket.
"Is this the ideal opportunity to bring a lower cost supermarket to the town," he asked?
Mayor Peggy Dow said: "We need another supermarket in this town.
"If there is a possibility of another 260 homes on top of those already being built then there is a definite need."
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