A PLAN for 86 homes and a care home on village land branded ‘a visual blot’ is to be decided by a planning inspector.

The scheme would see the homes built on the former Station Works site, in Tisbury.

It was submitted to Wiltshire Council by Intelligent Land, on behalf of Tisbury Community Homes, in October 2021 – but has not been decided by the authority.

Now, after the delay in making a decision, the applicant has lodged the plan with the government planning inspectorate to consider.

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The inquiry will sit tomorrow February 21 to begin considering evidence.

The original application said the almost five-acre site had become ‘a visual blot on the landscape and townscape of Tisbury’ and that the ‘attractive’ development would bring ‘much-needed housing and jobs’.

“The Station Works site was originally part of the railway, forming sidings and a goods yard for Tisbury, as well as a small gas works and machinery factory on part of the site,” the application said.

“These various uses had ceased by the late 1960s, and the site was subsequently developed for employment use, with the building of a large factory in the mid-70s, part of which is still in existence today.

“Latterly, however, the site has fallen into low use, with part derelict and part in use by local storage, commercial and manufacturing businesses with a number of existing large buildings, structures and associates hard surfaces, all of which are in poor condition.”

Bids to develop the site were previously rejected, however, Tisbury Community Homes says the new scheme would be ‘viable and sustainable’.

However, Wiltshire Council said it would have rejected the application – which it deemed was not sufficient to come before councillors or officers for determination – on five grounds.

They were access concerns, potential flooding, a lack of affordable housing, a lack of evidence for the proposed care home and insufficient evidence over the scheme and whether it would be inkeeping with the ‘scale, density and character of the surrounding area’.

For more details on the planning appeal, log on to https://acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/ViewCase.aspx?CaseID=3308919&CoID=0.