Land along Potters Hill, Crockerton, Warminster, BA12 8AB

1. 1.The application site lies within the open countryside, outside any defined settlement boundary. The proposed dwelling would be sited in an unsustainable location with limited access to services, facilities and employment opportunities. Having regard to the rural nature of the surrounding highway network, which is unlit and lacks pedestrian footways, and limited services and facilities within the small village settlement of Crockerton, the site is unlikely to be readily accessible by public transport, walking or cycling and would therefore be heavily reliant on the private motor car to meet day-to-day needs. As a result, the proposal would fail to promote sustainable patterns of development and would conflict with local and national planning objectives that seek to reduce the need to travel, minimise reliance on private motor vehicles and encourage the use of sustainable transport modes. The proposal would therefore be contrary to Core Policies 2, 31, 60 and 61 of the Wiltshire Core Strategy (January 2015) and would fail to achieve sustainable development when assessed against the National Planning Policy Framework, with particular regard to paragraphs 109, 110 and 111.
2. 2.The proposed development would introduce a new dwelling into an undeveloped area of the open countryside within the Cranborne Chase National Landscape (formerly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). By reason of the undeveloped rural location, the proposal residential land use comprising a single new domestic building and associated residential curtilage and paraphernalia would urbanise and erode the rural character and appearance of the site and its immediate surroundings, resulting in harm to the natural beauty, scenic quality and special landscape character of this nationally protected landscape. The proposal therefore fails to conserve and enhance the National Landscape and would conflict with Core Policy 51 of the Wiltshire Core Strategy (2015) and is contrary to the National Planning Policy Framework, in particular paragraphs 187 and 189, which require great weight to be given to conserving and enhancing landscape and scenic beauty within National Landscapes. In addition, the proposal would be contrary to the statutory duty under Section 85 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act to seek to further the purposes of protected landscapes as amended by Section 245 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023.
3. 3.The site is situated within the River Avon SAC catchment. Advice from Natural England indicates that every permission that results in a net increase in foul water entering the catchment as a result of residential development could result in increased nutrients entering the European Protected Site causing further deterioration to it. In the absence of detailed proposals to mitigate the impact of these increased nutrients or mechanism to secure such mitigation the Council as a competent authority cannot conclude that there would be no adverse effect on the integrity of this European Site as a result of the development. The proposal would therefore conflict with Wiltshire Core Strategy policies CP50 (Biodiversity and Geodiversity) and CP69 (Protection of the River Avon SAC); and paragraphs 192- 195 of the National Planning Policy Framework 2024.

From the council's decision notice.

Postcode

BA12 8AB

Application type

Permission in Principle

Scale / size

Medium

Parish

Longbridge Deverill CP

Date validated

13 May 2026

Consultation expiry

15 July 2026

Consultation end

15 July 2026

Target decision date

7 August 2026

Case officer

Julie Mitchell

Statutory period

86 days

Documents

7