Plans to build new M4 HGV depot at Wiltshire junction

Melksham-based haulage firm DK Barnsley & Sons wants to build a lorry park, lorry servicing building, and offices next to the Indurent Park logistics hub at junction 17.

The site is currently used as agricultural grazing land, and the firm is seeking the permission of Wiltshire Council to relocate its operations there from Bowerhill Industrial Estate.

The firm, which employs 20 permanent lorry drivers, as well as outsourcing work to an additional 20 drivers, says it has outgrown its existing base.

Relocation would allow it to create an extra 14 jobs as soon as it opens.

A new single-storey office would house the firm's five administrative staff, while a second building would be erected for the servicing of lorries.

A hardstanding surface would be created for lorry parking.

The firm says the plans would cut down on lorry miles, reducing pollution and cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

The applicant’s vehicles travel 2.1 million kilometres a year, with 98 per cent of trips using the M4 - 21.5 kilometres from their existing base.

The firm says each lorry travels a minimum of 85 kilometres a week between the yard and the M4.

The company says it could eradicate 3,371 kilometres of road travel every year by relocating.

Wiltshire Council's economic development team are supportive of the planning, saying: "This planning application... in an area that is already a logistics hub will allow an existing Wiltshire-based business to expand, creating additional jobs that will benefit the economy of Wiltshire.

"There are few, if any, opportunities to find a suitable site at the company’s existing location in Melksham and providing the application is successful, once the company has moved from Melksham it should allow other companies based in the town the opportunity to expand.

"We are aware of a number that have been looking for extra space for some time.

"This application would also have the beneficial effect of reducing HGV traffic from Junction 17 down the A350 to Melksham, reducing carbon dioxide emissions and improving the efficiency of the business."

But Sutton Benger Parish Council has lodged an objection, pointing out the proposed development's proximity to an existing lorry park and the household recycling centre.

"The vehicles trying to enter the recycling centre have to queue in the road while waiting to enter the site," the parish council notes.

"This reduces the two-lane road to a single lane. This single lane is on a blind bend and has to be shared by lorries coming and going to the lorry park mixed in with the rest of the vehicles using this busy route.

"The vehicles meet each other head-on in the middle of the queue for recycling."

Meanwhile, Kington Langley Parish Council has objected on the grounds of visual impact.

"Although there is the Pit Stop, warehousing and the recycling centre nearby, the countryside south, east and towards Draycot Cerne is characteristically open and agricultural," says the council.

"This visual amenity should be protected as much as possible and only allowed to be degraded if the economic benefits outweigh the harm."

A decision by Wiltshire Council is expected before May 20.