Wednesday 29 June 2016
Tuesday 14 June 2016
The Pavilions Trowbridge - The battle for the Article 4 Direction
Wiltshire Council's Article 4 Direction to prevent The Pavilions being turned into flats is now with the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) who can decide to order the Council to withdraw the Direction. The confirmation of the Article 4 Direction is strongly supported locally and by our MP and the Parish Council. Below is a summary of Transforming Trowbridge's response to the DCLG. The potential owners of the site have hired a barrister to make their case and this is referred to in our response.
Article 4 Direction – The Pavilions White Horse Business Park Trowbridge
You will see from the website we are a private sector led partnership, supported by the largest businesses in Trowbridge, committed to winning investment and creating jobs in Trowbridge at a time when the town is expanding rapidly.
We have been shown a copy of the submission made to you
by the barrister on behalf of Three Pavilions Ltd and we want to record our
concerns about the conclusions drawn by that submission.
Article 4 Direction – The Pavilions White Horse Business Park Trowbridge
You will see from the website we are a private sector led partnership, supported by the largest businesses in Trowbridge, committed to winning investment and creating jobs in Trowbridge at a time when the town is expanding rapidly.
You can see from the ‘Opportunities’ page of our website
that we have identified the building the subject of the Article 4 Direction as
one of our priorities
The White Horse Business Park is the most important, and
high profile, employment site in the town.
Its loss to residential accommodation would be disastrous.
Wiltshire Council has made this Direction, because, and
only because, the development to which it
relates is prejudicial to the proper planning of the area. It is absolutely necessary to protect the wellbeing of the area. The potential harm that the direction is
intended to prevent should be clearly addressed has been identified. It is the loss of the most important
employment opportunity in the town
(Note the words in italics are quotations from National Planning Guidance)
The sophistry in the barrister's submission cannot escape these obvious
conclusions. Whilst the building has
been empty for several years now, this was the case when Barclays Bank left in
the nineties and Virgin Mobile arrived several years later and became
Wiltshire’s largest employer. Transforming
Trowbridge have been very disappointed with the marketing of the building and
we are now involved in taking initiatives to draw the availability of the
building to, in particular, the call centre industry.
The Government’s motivation for giving Permitted
Development rights was surely not intended to transform Trowbridge’s most
prestigious Business Park into a residential area when local housing need is
being met through the Wiltshire Core Strategy. Within a few hundred yards of
The Pavilions, the Core Strategy has identified a development site - Ashton
Park Urban Extension - that will provide some 2600 dwellings (30% affordable)
with a suitable mix of housing in line with Core Policies 45 and 46. With the
large number of new residents these homes will attract, the pressing need will
be for an increased supply of employment opportunities. Trowbridge, being
Wiltshire’s County Town, with excellent transport connections, has for many
years functioned as a major employment location for a wide catchment area.
Significant housing proposals in all the neighbouring market towns will inevitably
result in even higher demand for more jobs. The loss of a major employment site
at such a critical time, when all efforts are being directed at building
expanded, balanced communities is unthinkable.
We trust that the Secretary of State will consider it is inappropriate
to intervene in this matter. It is
essentially a local issue.
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