Category: Clubs and Societies

Tuesday 24th March 2026

From the Facebook page of EBBRAG:

This photo shows the wonderful view from Battlesbury Hill, looking south to Home Farm, and Bishopstrow and beyond. It is a green and pleasant scene many of us are familiar with and love.

If housing ever fills the fields of Home Farm, this view will be irreversibly changed forever. That would be a disaster for people and wildlife and would wreck heritage and archaeology. And the consequences of unsustainable building include flooding risk, pollution of the River Wylye, more problems because infrastructure needs not being met, the loss of green open space, etc., etc.

These are some of the reasons why EBBRAG have been fighting to get the Home Farm housing allocation removed from the Warminster Neighbourhood Plan 2.

EBBRAG has been tremendously spurred on by the great support of many people, not only those living at Boreham and Bishopstrow, but from all parts of Warminster, who recognise it for the beautiful countryside it is and for the health and other benefits the outdoor experience brings. And there has been further support from folks who come here especially to holiday, walk, ride and enjoy in many ways what is undoubtedly a stunning landscape.

EBBRAG thanks you all for your great support, signing letters, writing to make your feelings known, helping us canvas, filling out surveys, contributing to technical and conservation reports, and donating to the fighting fund. The EBBRAG committee appreciates all of this, more than words can say. We are also moved by the messages of thanks now coming in – EBBRAG supporters, you are the best!

Here’s just three of the messages we have received via email and Facebook:

Please pass on my thanks to all EBBRAG committee members for doing all this amazing research, canvassing, surveys and technical report writing on our behalf. I only hope it is successful. – J.S.

Huge thanks to you all for working so hard for our community, you have done an amazing job, let’s hope that it is all listened to. – C.S.

Thank you all for all your hard work so far. I for one very much appreciate it. – F.G.

info@ebragg.com

www.ebbrag.com

Tuesday 24th March 2026

A message from EBBRAG:

The Warminster Neighbourhood Plan 2 (NP2) Consultation Survey (Regulation 14) closed at midnight last night (23rd March). It seems the Town Council had a poor response to their consultation.

EBBRAG have been extremely busy during the consultation period and our hard work has been positive and uplifting.

EBBRAG has submitted approximately 415 letters of opposition to the Town Council, signed at Three Horseshoes Walk on 7 and 14 March 2026. For members of the EBBRAG committee, it was very moving to engage with so many Warminster residents who share the same concerns.

The EBBRAG campaign also generated around 30 responses from residents outside the town boundary who were shopping, visiting friends and family, or simply visiting Warminster. Many were from Westbury, citing the lack of shops in their town, and the furthest respondent came from Canterbury while visiting family. All, however, shared similar concerns, as demonstrated by the overwhelming response over two days, with several hours of engagement each day.

The topics covered (with the number of submissions per letter) were:

• Compliance with national flood risk policy – 11
• Infrastructure capacity to support proposed housing growth – 91
• Protection of heritage setting and protected views – 43
• Nutrient neutrality and protection of the River Wylye chalk stream – 26
• General conformity with the Wiltshire Core Strategy – 6
• Archaeological and historic landscape significance – 22
• Safe and suitable highway access – 10
• Multiple concerns (covering the above in one letter) – 206
• The EBBRAG open letter on the website – 0

On your behalf, the EBBRAG committee has also submitted a 32-page technical response to the draft NP2, including an executive summary. These documents are not intended for publication; however, if any resident would like a copy, please contact info@ebbrag.com

The open letter on the EBBRAG website has also been submitted on your behalf.

Finally, additional submissions from Boreham Road residents and Bishopstrow Court residents have also been made, all challenging the draft NP2.

We now await the Council’s review of the comments and to see how the draft NP2 will be amended—or not—before being forwarded to Wiltshire Council for further consideration.

Regards,
EBBRAG.

info@ebbrag.com

www.ebbrag.com

Monday 23rd March 2026

A message from EBBRAG to all its supporters:

Just a reminder that the Warminster Neighbourhood Plan 2 (NP2) Consultation Survey (Regulation 14) closes at midnight today. If you have not yet completed it, please do so, ensuring you include the phrase: Withdraw Home Farm from Site Selection. You do not have to answer every question, and we appreciate that it is a difficult survey to complete. However, provided you include that phrase in the appropriate question, that will suffice.

Regards,
EBBRAG.

www.ebbrag.com

info@ebbrag.com

Sunday 15th March 2026

From the EBBRAG website:

Al Wright (on behalf of EBBRAG) is conducting a survey, gathering evidence to protect Home Farm, Boreham, Warminster as a Local Green Space and Green Corridor. He will be out and about, as always, along the public footpaths, bridleways and lanes in the Home Farm area (and also on the Southern Range Road below Battlesbury) up until 21st March, with survey forms, to give everyone the opportunity to make their views known.

If you don’t know him already, you will recognise him as the tall guy with a bushy beard, with a rucksack on his back, and usually with a camera in hand, photographing the landscape and wildlife. If you’re not outdoors enjoying the Home Farm area and unable to see Al, but would still like to take part in this important survey, you can complete the survey online and submit it to via EBBRAG. 

The survey results will be presented to Warminster Town Council, for the Warminster Neighbourhood Plan Consultation, with the objective of making people’s views known in regard to having Home Farm removed from site selection and proposing that Home Farm be added to the Local Green Spaces for Warminster.

The survey can be found on the EBBRAG website at https://www.ebbrag.com/home-farm-community-value-survey/

Closing date for this online survey is 20th March, so they can be printed out and submitted to the Town Council before the Neighbourhood Plan Consultation closing date of 23rd March.

Also to remind you that on the same EBBRAG website under “Letter”, there is an open EBBRAG letter (petition) to Warminster Town Council we would like you to sign. This will be handed in before 23 March 2026, with all the signatures – while there has been a medium response so far EBBRAG needs you all to sign.

Finally, we understand the response on the Warminster Town Council draft Neighbourhood Plan 2 Survey is poor. Please make sure you + up to 10 friends, relatives, neighbours etc complete it by midnight on the 23 March 2026. Note you do not need to answer every question but it is vital you include the phrase:

 â€œRemove Home Farm from site selection in the draft Warminster Neighbourhood Plan 2”.

Thank you for membership of EBBRAG.

Regards EBBRAG Administrator.

Monday 2nd March 2026

EBBRAG Update

While there has not been a recent update, the EBBRAG team has been working hard behind the scenes on the draft Neighbourhood Plan. Further details will be shared shortly.

Please find attached a list of infrastructure impacts if all known, planned, and speculative housing developments are built by 2038. Note that the number of houses has increased compared to the earlier EBBRAG email of 11 February 2026, as additional planning applications have been identified. We have included a breakdown of known developments below so you are aware of the site locations.

While many support developing brownfield sites within the town, EBBRAG remains very concerned about the number of houses proposed for greenfield sites coming to Warminster and the additional residents, traffic, and pressure on services without clearly planned supporting infrastructure. Developers often make commitments during the application process; however, delivery does not always reflect those assurances. The Town Council has stated that services will increase in line with population growth — for example, that NHS provision will expand if the population increases — but you may be aware that, due to recent staff sickness, Avenue Surgery is already struggling to support the current population.

Current Known Planned Housing for Warminster to 2038 (by site)

• Jubilee Gardens – up to 1,550 houses to 2038 (1,000 by 2026) (approved) (Greenfield)
• Cley Hill – 227 houses (approved) (Greenfield)
• Grovelands – 68 houses (approved) (Greenfield)
• Brick Hill Farm – 9 houses (in process) (Greenfield)
• Masons Arms – 6 flats + 2 houses (Brownfield)
• John Barleycorn – 9 apartments (Brownfield)
• 3 High Street – shop + 11 apartments (Brownfield)
• 1 Copheap Lane – 4 bungalows (Brownfield)

Total Known Speculative / Draft NP2 Housing for Warminster to 2038 (by site)

• Ashley Coombe – 77 houses (speculative application, not yet approved) (Greenfield)
• Westbury Road – 205 houses (speculative application, not yet approved) (Greenfield)
• Home Farm – 90/135 houses (Neighbourhood Plan/developer speculative figures, not yet approved) (Greenfield)

This makes a total of 2,258 possible new-build houses by 2038 (using the draft NP2 figure for Home Farm rather than the developer’s higher estimate).

Please also note that the former Warminster Prep School site is currently for sale through Savills for residential development. This is a large site, including playing fields, and could accommodate a significant number of additional homes.

Additional Points

(i) Impact on the River Wylye

• The River Wylye is a globally recognised rare chalk stream, hydrologically linked to the River Avon (a Special Area of Conservation), and is already highly phosphate- and nutrient-sensitive.
• The draft NP does not demonstrate that a clear solution is in place to address this issue, nor that wastewater systems can cope with the additional 713,000 litres per day that could be produced. This figure does not include infill and brownfield development.
• The draft plan also does not clearly show how legal environmental protections will be met.

(ii) Loss of Green Space

• The draft NP 2 emphasises protecting green spaces; however, site selection appears inconsistent with this objective For example, Home Farm — the principal site selected — is a historic rural site outside the settlement boundary and is not required based on current Wiltshire housing need figures of 90 houses.
• It is also believed that the medieval village of Boreham was founded on Home Farm fields.
• With the fencing of Kingdown playing fields, East Warminster has no remaining green spaces other than Home Farm, in contrast to those identified to the west and south of Warminster by the draft NP 2.
• Development would permanently affect countryside views, wildlife, recreation, and wellbeing for residents of East Warminster.

(iii) Highway Safety

• The proposed Home Farm access is located just beyond a blind bend on Boreham Road (leaving Warminster), which raises safety concerns. Several accidents have occurred nearby in recent years.
• A similar access proposal was rejected by both Highways and a Planning Inspector in 2019, with additional comments that a significant heritage asset wall would need to be demolished.
• This would have a detrimental impact on the historic character and vista of Boreham Road.

(iv) Concerns About the NP 2 Process

• The process to date has raised concerns regarding communication with residents (for example, awareness of the informal survey), the apparent disregard of earlier survey results (61% of respondents opposed inclusion of Home Farm), limited engagement with major local employers (Bishopstrow Hotel and GEA), and reliance on an external consultant at public expense — estimated at £33,000 to date (£16,000 funded through Warminster Council tax) according to the Town Clerk but believed to be significantly more.
• EBBRAG believes that the housing site selection element of the NP is profoundly flawed and that the inclusion of Home Farm as the only significant site for development compromises the NP 2 as a whole. EBBRAG have repeatedly tried to engage with the Council on these issues and so far they have failed to provide evidence that demonstrates the process of site selection has been both fairly representative of our community and democratic. EBBRAG’s intention is to continue to raise these vitally important concerns with the Council and if needs be, at the appropriate time, with Wiltshire County Council.

Requested Actions

As a member of EBBRAG, please consider taking the following actions:

(i) Complete the draft Neighbourhood Plan survey by midnight on 23 March 2026.
To access the survey, please use the following link:
https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/3KNZGD/
Please ensure you include the wording: â€œRemove Home Farm from Site Selection.”

(ii) Write to the Town Council Steering Group by midnight on 23 March 2026, using the attached updated information to raise concerns about the inclusion of Home Farm and the lack of supporting infrastructure.

Address:
Warminster Town Council Steering Group
Warminster Civic Centre
Sambourne Road
Warminster
Wiltshire BA12 8LB

or Email: civiccentre@warminster-tc.gov.uk

Please also copy the local MP, Dr Andrew Murrison, at: andrew.murrison.mp@parliament.uk

(iii) Sign the open letter on the EBBRAG website:
https://www.ebbrag.com/letter/

It is very important that as many residents as possible complete these actions. Please not only complete the three actions yourself but also encourage partners, relatives, friends, and neighbours to do the same.

If each person encourages ten others to participate, the collective response will carry significant weight when the Town Council reviews submissions at the end of March 2026.

Thank you for your continued time and effort.

EBBRAG