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Search the Public Notice PortalA major Wiltshire employer has won the final go-ahead to build a massive new warehouse just metres from houses.
Gompels Healthcare won planning approval last month after telling Wiltshire councillors that it would move to Coventry with the loss of nearly 200 local jobs if planning permission was denied.
The decision by members of the strategic planning committee was against the advice of planning officers.
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Gompels wants to build a 245,000 sq ft warehouse and offices on land it owns to the east of Melksham. The building would be 57 feet tall.
Due to the size of the warehouse, the final decision rested with the Secretary of State, Steve Reed, who this week announced they would not step in and review the plans - meaning Wiltshire Council's planning decision stood.
"The Secretary of State has carefully considered policy on calling in planning applications," the council was told in a letter.
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“The Secretary of State has decided not to call in this application. He is content that it should be determined by the local planning authority."
Gompels had previously said: "We would hate to leave. But if the application is refused, then leave we must."
The application was opposed by residents, some of whom live no more than 30 metres from where the warehouse will be built.
"The impact on our homes will be significant and unavoidable," one said.
"Our gardens and living spaces will be dominated by shadow."
He called the application "wholly unreasonable," saying the houses closest to the site would face noise, day and night, from HGVs loading and unloading.
He said both he and his neighbour had been diagnosed with anxiety and depression as a result of the planning application.
Debating the proposal, Cllr Nigel White (Winsley & Westwood, Liberal Democrat) said having no job was "just as stressful" as having a distribution centre built near your house.
And committee chairman Ernie Clark (Hilperton, Independent) said the application was "one of the trickiest I've come across" in 20 years on planning committees.
"I have every sympathy with residents, but jobs are hard to come by," he said.
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