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Emmaus School, School Lane, Staverton, Trowbridge, BA14 6NZ

PL/2026/00464Full planning permissionRefused
Full

Refused on 9 April 2026

Council decision: Refuse2 reasons for refusal

Approximate location: the centre of the postcode, not the exact property.

Proposal

Retrospective application for approval of security fencing which required to support the safeguarding, safety and effective operation of the school, while maintaining an open and welcoming environment appropriate to its educational setting.

Submitted
23 January 2026
Ward
Holt ED
  1. Received23 Jan
  2. Validated23 Jan
  3. Consult.25 Feb
  4. Target20 Mar
  5. Decided9 Apr

Decided in 76 days (council typically 49)

About this application

This is a full planning application at Emmaus School, School Lane, Staverton, Trowbridge, BA14 6NZ. Wiltshire has handled 9,967 applications of this type. This one was decided in 76 days, 4 weeks longer than Wiltshire's typical decision time. There has been 1 other application at this address. In the past year there have been 44 applications across Holt ED. We hold 2,267 applications in total for the BA14 postcode area.

93% of full applications at Wiltshire Council were approved. Across all application types, the council typically decides in about 7 weeks (median).

Based on decided applications received in the last 3 years.Planning something similar? See what gets approved on your street

Why it was refused

  1. By reason of its height and its incongruous relationship with the host building and streetscene, the 3m high fence that encloses the school playground (which is considered the most important part of the application submission), is disproportionate and harmful to the scale of the Victorian-built stone school building (which is considered to be a non-designated heritage asset) and is equally harmful to the character and appearance of the immediate surroundings and streetscene, through its harsh, utilitarian appearance, which is at odds with both the historic vernacular character of the identified local asset and the suburban character of the immediate area. As such, the proposal fails to deliver the required high-quality design that respects local character and distinctiveness and is consequently contrary to WCS Core Policy 57 and the Wiltshire Design Guide and the NPPF.
  2. By reason of its height and juxtaposition with the host building, the 3m high fence has a low level less than substantial harm to the significance, character and appearance of the Victorian-era school building on-site which is considered to be of merit as a non-designated heritage asset that this harm is afforded great weight in the decision-making process. No heritage justification has been provided, nor have sufficient public benefits been demonstrated that would outweigh the identified harm. The proposal therefore fails to conserve or enhance the historic environment and is contrary to Core Policies 57 and 58 of the Wiltshire Core Strategy, the Wiltshire Design Guide, and section 16 of the NPPF.

From the council's decision notice.

Application details

Postcode
BA14 6NZ
Application type
Full planning permission
Scale / size
Small
Parish
Staverton CP

Planning application dates

Date validated
23 January 2026
Consultation expiry
25 February 2026
Consultation end
25 February 2026
Target decision date
20 March 2026

Planning decision

Statutory period
56 days

Appeal history

6010036
Allowed
Type: Planning AppealProcedure: Written RepresentationsDecision: 9 September 2026Dev Type: Other minor developmentsReason: refused

Additional information

Documents
12

Site constraints

Checking the site
2/3
Council recordsAppealsFlood risk

Designations at the address point. Ones next to the site may also apply.

  • Flood zone 1: Low probability (rivers and sea)

Possibly incomplete for this council: tree preservation orders.

Also checked, none recorded (23)

flood storage areas, conservation areas, listed buildings, Article 4 directions, green belt, scheduled monuments, World Heritage Sites, World Heritage Site buffer zones, registered parks and gardens, registered battlefields, Heritage at Risk entries, nutrient neutrality catchments, national parks, National Landscapes, SSSIs, Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas, Ramsar sites, ancient woodland, national nature reserves, local nature reserves, heritage coasts and brownfield registers.

A guide only, from official open data; it is not a planning search. Flood zones cover rivers and sea, not surface water.

Data © Crown copyright and others · sources and licences

Contains public sector information from planning.data.gov.uk (MHCLG and local planning authorities), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

© Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. The Historic England GIS Data contained in this material was obtained on 2026-11-03. The most publicly available up to date Historic England GIS Data can be obtained from HistoricEngland.org.uk.

© Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

© Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2026. All rights reserved. Flood Map for Planning, Open Government Licence v3.0.

Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Source: Wiltshire

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