Honeystreet homes plan rejected (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Honeystreet homes plan rejected

8:10am Friday 10th March 2006 in Marlborough By Jill Crooks

KENNET district councillors unanimously turned down a housing application in Honeystreet which would have doubled the size of the village.

More than 20 residents attended the meeting of Kennet's regulatory committee in Devizes last Thursday and several voiced their objections.

The application was for a total of 21 houses, - 19 new ones plus one existing house to be refurbished and another to be replaced on the old wharf alongside the Kennet & Avon Canal.

The plans by Greatworth Properties, of Hungerford, also included retaining a couple of buildings for business use and to construct a new shop/post office.

Four letters of support were sent in to Kennet including from the owner of the Sawmill and Ian Mellor, agent for Greatworth, told the committee that the disused buildings had been marketed for over two years but had not attracted any interest from potential business people.

He said: "The site is unsightly and contributes nothing to the amenity of the canal."

He said the application was a good example of "rural regeneration."

A number of the residents who spoke against the scheme said they were not against redevelopment of the site but wanted a lower number of houses.

Resident Sandy Collison said: "The proposed development imposes on the settlement a cramped suburban enclave, doubling the population at a stroke."

Polly Carson, who runs a horse drawn gypsy caravan business on the site, said the scheme would turn one of the most beautiful landscapes in Britain into an "urban ghetto."

The parish council and Campaign to Protect Rural England also spoke against the plan.

Council planning officers recommended approval of the scheme but members of the committee were unhappy.

Coun Tony Still said the design of the site was "shocking" while coun Ken Beard said it would be a "ludicrous" increase in the number of homes in Honeystreet.

The committee refused the application unanimously stating it would be an over development of the site and would not be in keeping with the character of the village.

Residents were delighted as they left Kennet's council chamber with one man saying to the councillors: "Well done. Ten out of ten for democracy."

See next week's Gazette for reaction