Land to the North of Bath Road, Pickwick, Corsham, SN13 0BT

1. 1.The application gives rise to significant heritage harm. The scale of harm arising, in the context of paragraphs 213-215 of the NPPF is ‘less than substantial’, but paragraph 212 requires that ‘great weight’ is attributed to the asset’s conservation, irrespective of the scale of harm, and given the heritage importance of the site the harm arising is considered to be at greater than the lower end of the ‘less than substantial’ scale. The application thus conflicts with Core Policies 57 and 58 (WCS) and Policies HE1 and HE2 (CNP).
2. 2.Partly in the context of the heritage sensitivity of the site, the application does not represent an appropriate level of quality in terms of layout and design and the application conflicts with Core Policy 57 (WCS) and policies ED1 and HE1 (CNP). In failing to take into account local design guidance and supplementary planning documents – including the Corsham Design Guide and the Pickwick Conservation Area Appraisal, the scheme conflicts with paragraphs 1335 and 139 of the NPPF.
3. 3.The site is located within an area designated as a Special Area of Conservation for bats and is thus treated as a ‘habitats site’ in terms of Footnote 7 of the NPPF. Insufficient information has been provided to enable an Appropriate Assessment to be undertaken in respect of the application and as such, the application conflicts with Core Policy 50 (WCS) and Policies ED1, E1 and E2 (CNP), as well as Section 15 of the NPPF, paragraphs 187, 193, 194 and 195.
4. 4.Based on the submitted information, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the proposal will not lead to unacceptable impact on trees. The submitted Arboricultural Method Statement and Tree Protection Plan are inadequate to ensure the protection of trees which hold ecological and / or amenity value. The application thus conflicts with Core Policies 50 and 57(ii) (WCS) and Policy E2 (CNP).
5. 5.Insufficient information has been provided to demonstrate that the proposed strategy complies with the National Standards for SuDS and as such fails to demonstrate that the proposal will not increase flood risk elsewhere. Calculations to demonstrate that interception storage in line with the National Standards for SuDS have not been provided and no risk assessment or pump-failure scenarios have been provided to demonstrate the extent or depth of any flooding on site that could occur in the event of a pump failure. There is also insufficient information submitted regarding surface water flood risk. Overall, a lack of information on matters of flood risk and drainage leads to conflict with Core Policy 67 (WCS), Policy E2 (CNP) and Section 14 of the NPPF, paragraphs 173-175, 181 and 182.
6. 6.The application fails to provide and/or secure any mechanism to ensure that the provision of essential infrastructure, services and amenities made necessary by the development being affordable housing, recreation and leisure, health facilities and waste collection can all be delivered. This is contrary to WCS Core Policies 3, 43, 45 and 52, as well as paragraphs 8, 35, 56, 58 and 59, and 66 of the NPPF.

From the council's decision notice.

Postcode

SN13 0BT

Application type

Full planning permission

Scale / size

Large

Number of dwellings

11

Parish

Corsham CP

Date validated

29 October 2025

Consultation expiry

5 February 2026

Consultation end

5 February 2026

Target decision date

19 February 2026

Case officer

Peter Crozier

Statutory period

113 days

Documents

50