Wiltshire Council's cabinet questioned on local plan

The plan sets the blueprint for over 36,000 homes, 160ha of employment land, infrastructure projects and the creation of more than 21,000 jobs by 2038.

Numerous members of the public attended the cabinet meeting on Tuesday, October 8 to express their concerns, and one individual was asked to “tone down” his comments after he suggested corruption within the council.

Cllr Nick Botterill, cabinet member for strategic planning, reminded residents that the government requires local authorities to provide enough land for homes.

The cabinet meeting was held in Trowbridge County Hall. (Image: Wiltshire Council) He explained: “If we don’t do this, it will be done for us.”

However, Adrian Temple-Brown from Wiltshire Climate Alliance argued the council should use its platform to refuse and claimed that the plan was “insane” in the face of climate change.

Referring to a controversial reserved site allocation, resident Simon Hetzel said: “The glacial speed of planning policy, the tin ear of and lack of action by the council has already resulted in environmental damage to the old golf course in Bradford on Avon.”

He added: “Whether Wiltshire Council is simply under resourced, incompetent, institutionally corrupt, or all three, none of this does much for the council’s reputation nor those of cabinet members running it.”

Cllr Nick Holder, cabinet member for highways, street scene and flooding, responded: “I would ask you to bring evidence forward to prove that corruption, because I resent, personally, the implication that there is any corruption, and I would ask you to tone down your comments and withdraw that comment in the public arena.”

Council leader Richard Clewer agreed that the accusations were a “poor, shocking thing to be saying”.

Defending the local plan, Cllr Dominic Muns, cabinet member for waste and environment, said: “It sets a benchmark for sustainable development and net zero living which will assist with the global climate project but also will bring everyday heating and food bills down for our poorest residents.”

Cllr Phil Alford, cabinet member for housing, added: “It has been, sadly, a bit of an ugly discussion about this one and I think there has been a lot of criticism of housing and the concept of housing.

“Personally, I think housing is a great thing.

“Having homes for people, secure homes that they can bring their families up in, that give them security and warmth when they’re older, is good thing.”

Cllr Richard Clewer concluded: “It’s really critical in my view that all of us make sure that the government understands that where our local plan is developed, it is delivered, not left in the hands of manipulation and developers being able to build in unsustainable locations on the edges of settlements instead.

“I think this is a good plan. Is it perfect? No, no local plan will ever be perfect.

“This is the best plan we can come up with, I’m really happy to see it go forward.”  

Meanwhile, Lib Dem leader Ian Thorn accused the council of having a “defeatist” attitude when asking if it was “confident” the plan would meeting the necessary housing land supply.

He said: “Frankly, we can wring our hands, and we can make excuses as much as we want but it’s the people of Wiltshire that then have to deal with the reality of those unwanted planning applications.

“And I have to say, it doesn’t take a huge amount of research to find a whole slew of local authorities that do maintain a five-year housing supply, many of them not very far from here.”

Cllr Botterill strongly refuted this claim and noted: “It is the developers that cannot plan a five-year roll out of properties.”

The cabinet approved the local plan and it will now be considered at the full council meeting on Tuesday, October 15.