Revised plans submitted for new south Wiltshire police station

It comes after the Police and Crime Commissioner's Office revealed on Friday that four sites are "actively being considered" as possible locations. 

Those locations are at High Post, near Salisbury, the Fugglestone Red and Old Sarum areas, and on land joined with Salisbury District Hospital. 

Now plans have been submitted for the development of land adjacent to High Post Business Park. 

The documents say the proposals are for: "The development of 5.4 hectares / 13.4 acres adjacent to the High Post Business Park. The scheme is a mixed-use, employment-led development including the erection of five buildings (Use Classes E(office), B2 (general industrial) and B8 (storage and distribution); with external areas, access, parking, landscaping and associated works.

"A Southern Policing Hub (Sui Generis) for Wiltshire Police is included in Outline only, with subsequent Reserved Matters applications to follow." 

A planning application for the same site was previously withdrawn. 

The previous submission detailed proposals for a mixed-use employment-led development including the erection of eight buildings.

It included premises for three local employers and also speculative units for smaller and new businesses. The speculative element has been removed for the re-submission.

The application site is located 3.5 miles south of Amesbury and 4.4 miles north of Salisbury. 

The development site is located directly adjacent to Highpost Business Park. 

The proposed site abuts the existing High Post Salt Store along its eastern boundary. This salt store depot has planning permission to be redeveloped to create a larger facility which is currently being constructed on site at the time of writing. 19/10043-FUL which was granted January 2020 gives consent for the demolition of the existing salt store building and the construction of a larger salt store building with greater capacity.

The area south of the depot also shares a boundary with the application site which was granted planning permission 19/09327/FUL in December 2020 to provide new offices and manufacturing facilities for two companies, Naish Felts Ltd and Wallgate Washrooms Ltd.

The plans say the site is currently used for agriculture, most recently growing feed crops and "is therefore mostly undeveloped".

Use and Amount

According to the applicants, these plans are an 11 per cent reduction in floor area and a 64 per cent reduction in building footprint.

The development will be split into three occupancies: Apsley Precision Engineering Ltd, Wiltshire Police and Nationwide Engineering Group & Concretene Ltd. 

"It is proposed that Wiltshire Police will take ownership of approximately four acres in the centre of the development to deliver the Southern Policing Hub for Wiltshire.

"At this stage, the proposals for Wiltshire Police are outline only, with subsequent Reserved Matters applications to follow".

Roads 

The development will be approached from the unnamed road between the A345 and Upper Woodford.

A new bell-mouth entrance will be created in the northern site boundary. Part of the verge will be replaced with a pedestrian footpath to the A345 and nearest bus stop connection.

A new spine road, ‘Mitchell Way’ will extend from the bellmouth and service the entirety of the development.

Conclusion

The plans say: "The proposed development represents a significant investment in Salisbury and the surrounding area.

"The proposal enables three local employers to expand and secure larger bespoke premises to support their long-term growth. Therefore, the proposed development will have significant benefits for the local economy and community."

To see the plans click here.