Plans to convert a hotel in Chippenham into three eight-bedroom homes have been refused by Wiltshire Council after it found a lack of “appropriate standards” for future occupiers.
The Pines Hotel on Marshfield Road was the subject of a planning application submitted to the council at the end of 2023, which requested permission to make the listed building residential after it was on the market unsuccessfully for three years.
The applicant proposed it become co-living shared accommodation under an HMO licence.
However, this permission was denied by Wiltshire Council, as it found that it had not been sufficiently demonstrated that the building’s use as a hotel was unviable.
It also noted that the application hadn’t provided enough detail surrounding the work which would have to be carried out, nor did there appear to be sufficient carparking and bin storage.
READ MORE: Questions surround Chippenham Tesco store closure amid new plans
The case officer report stated: “The intensity of the proposed use would result in general harm to local character, above the existing use.
“This would be felt through additional footfall, activity and the potential for large groups of occupants congregating in limited external amenity spaces.”
In other planning news, down in Trowbridge, plans to convert 14 Newton into five one-bedroom flats have been given the go-ahead.
The proposal had received criticism from some residents who claimed the site was too cramped.
Nevertheless, it has been approved by Wiltshire Council and the applicant has the all-clear to commence work on the shop.
Not far below, at the Longleat Forest Center Parcs, planning permission has been granted for a new adventure golf course.
The course will replace the existing maze and will be designed within the allocated spaces around existing trees.
Over in Calne, plans for a “local centre” have fallen through after an application for its construction on land south of Abberd Lane was rejected by the council.
Robert Hitchins Ltd had asked for permission to build a day nursery and convenience store in the same building, with the store set to be operated by Tesco.
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The application reads: “The local centre will be well placed to serve not only the existing and committed housing on this eastern side of the town, but also any further housing that may be granted permission in this area – land to the rear of the site is being promoted for further housing in the emerging local plan, and an outline planning application has already been submitted for 100 new homes.”
The applicant suggested that the development would generate up to 50 new jobs, “the majority of which will be taken by local people”.
Despite this, Wiltshire Council found that the proposed local centre, which would have been placed outside the settlement boundary, represented an “ad hoc visual incursion into the countryside” and a “visually jarring feature at the urban/rural fringe which will result in an unacceptable landscape impact”.
The case officer concluded: “Based on the nature and character of the immediately surrounding land, the proposed building does not effectively integrate into its setting in terms of building design, layout, built form, height and mass.”
Finally, in the village of Brinkworth, a commercial garage and adjacent home known as Glenview on the Causeway could be demolished to make way for three new homes.
This proposal is a reduction from a previous application that suggested four new homes be constructed, and Wiltshire Council has until mid-July to make its decision.
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