Residents in a village near Salisbury are objecting to a factory building being built in their rural surroundings.

Villagers in the quiet West Grimstead say the permission should “never have been allowed”.

The site, off Grimstead Road, is currently used as a lime yard, but will change to a distribution centre for horticultural products and sports amenity products, with another building added.

Grimstead Road resident Lindy Paramor, who has lived in the village for 60 years, says the yard has caused very little disturbance for the last 10 years.

She is one of a group of residents who are concerned about the west-blowing prevailing wind, which blows noise through the village.

The villagers say lorries already come through the narrow roads, passing from the A36 from Southampton and Romsey, and “we do not need any more”.

Lindy added that there are protected wildlife species in the village.

“We should be preserving these things,” she said. “The changes are completely unnecessary. We haven’t had to have this level of disruption for the last 10 years.”

Salisbury Journal:

The location of the site

Application documents say the site will primarily process soil, involving a number of separate processes including soil drying, screening and grading.

The new building will be 20m by 40m, and changes will also include an upgrade to existing facilities on site.

The company, when asked, did not confirm if any new jobs would be created at the site.

Permission was only granted on appeal, as the original change of use application was refused by Wiltshire Council in July.

However, Roffey Brothers, a horticultural services company from New Milton, appealed against the decision – and on appeal the application was approved.

The council says that the residents’ concerns meant the application was refused the first time, but the Planning Inspector concluded on appeal that the scheme “would not have an adverse impact” on the matters.

Cllr Nick Botterill, Cabinet Member for Development Management in Wiltshire Council, said: “The application was refused by the Council, and the various concerns of local residents were encapsulated in the reasons for refusal.

“The Planning Inspector was made fully aware of the concerns of local people and councillors with regards to the proposed development. The Inspector’s decision letter covers the main issues raised, including the safe and efficient operation of the highway network; the character and appearance of the area; the living conditions of nearby residents in relation to dust and noise and disturbance; and wildlife and ecology.

“However, despite the concerns expressed by local people, the Inspector concluded that the scheme would not have an adverse impact on these matters subject to a number of planning conditions.”

A spokesperson for New Milton Sand and Ballast said that no customers will be collecting from the site, and HGV traffic will be minimal and never travel through the village: “We have heard the concerns of the community and have worked closely with Wiltshire Council to ensure minimal disruption for local people in starting up our operations.

"As an independently owned company, based in the New Forest, our teams, especially our drivers, understand the concerns of rural communities and have a number of practices in place to ensure the safety of the public.

“The change of use planning application will allow us to convert the land from what is currently lime processing to a horticultural and sports amenity products processing and storage yard. This is not a commercial outlet and no customers will be actively collecting from our site.

"HGV traffic will be minimal and never travel through West Grimstead to reach our site. The processing equipment used produces minimal noise, however we are taking additional measures to help reduce any noise from the site by creating and installing bunds.

"The production of the horticultural and amenity products requires a clean working environment, therefore we do not envisage any residue of materials left on the roads. We are installing a new wheel wash to ensure all traffic entering and leaving the site will be clean.

"In order to house our materials undercover, we will be constructing a new barn area, in accordance to the planning conditions and to equal what is already in place."

The company is also to make an effort to engage the community in the changes they are making, after the pandemic meant that in-person events could not be held: "Due to Covid-19, regrettably, we were unable to hold in person consultation events ahead of the planning application, but we were able to share a Q&A document with local residents to help alleviate any concerns and explain our business and the specific operations at the site.

"We plan to hold open days for residents later this year, where they can come and visit us in person, see the operations and have their questions answered.”

Steve Milton, Clerk to Alderbury Parish Council, said: “We were disappointed with the outcome which was reported to us by Cllr Britton at our last meeting.

“The council made representations to the LPA on this application and that remains the official position of Alderbury Parish Council.”

To view the planning application in full, click here.

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