Category: Lob In The Landscape

Information and pictures of mostly rural topics and activities.

Warminster Town Council At Odds With Residents Over New Housing Plans ~ Warminster Neighbourhood Plan Is Deeply Flawed And Written By An Unaccountable Consultant Paid For By Public Funds

Friday 31st October 2025

Warminster Town Council at Odds with Residents Over New Housing Plans ~ Warminster Neighbourhood Plan is deeply flawed and written by an unaccountable consultant paid for by public funds.

Latest news from the East Boreham Business And Residents Action Group (EBBRAG):

Warminster Council at Odds with Residents Over New Housing Plans

Warminster Town Council (TC) looks increasingly out of step with its residents over proposals to open up yet more land for housing development.

A recent council survey revealed deep public concern about the strain on local services and the loss of the town’s cherished landscape. Yet, despite 61% of respondents in the recent council survey opposing development on Home Farm Land, the council has chosen to include this very site as a key area for future expansion in its draft Warminster Neighbourhood Plan.

The decision has sparked frustration among locals — especially given that the land’s controlling owners live overseas and have no direct stake in the wellbeing or character of the town. These owners have previously sought planning permission to build on the site, even though it lies outside Wiltshire’s Strategic Housing Plan to 2038 and the official town settlement boundary. On previous occasions, the most recent in 2019, a Government Planning Inspector concluded the land unsuitable for housing development.

Strong opposition to the proposal has also come from Bishopstrow House Hotel, one of the town’s largest employer, and from local Wiltshire MP Andrew Murrison, both of whom argue that such expansion risks undermining the very qualities that make Warminster distinctive. To develop Home Farm Land severely undermines the hotel’s future, as the proposed development will be in eyesight of the hotel and its gardens, thereby affecting the great economic benefit it currently brings to Warminster as a whole.

Critics say the current draft Neighbourhood Plan is deeply flawed and written by an unaccountable consultant paid for by public funds, rather than for or by residents. Warminster’s unique identity stems from its people, its historic buildings, and its remarkable setting within the surrounding landscape. Many of the town’s most valued heritage and natural assets lie precisely on its eastern edge — the very area now being targeted for development.

As the debate continues, one question looms large: will the council listen to its community and protect the town’s character, or push ahead with plans that could irreversibly alter it?

www.ebbrag.com/www.ebbrag.com/

Danny Howell writes: My photograph shows a view of Boreham. The green field near the centre of the pic, adjacent The Dene, is part of Home Farm and is under consideration for housing by Bellway Homes. They have a pre-application for planning put before Wiltshire Council (which the public are not allowed to see). And Warminster Town Council recently held a meeting with some Boreham and Bishopstrow residents asking them to agree that Home Farm should be developed, despite the fact it has previously been turned down by a planning inspector and is against the will of a large number of Warminster’s residents.

Death And Funeral Of Lock Rice

Wednesday 22nd October 2025

Laurence John Rice, known as Lock Rice, sadly passed away peacefully at the Royal United Hospital, Bath, on 30th September 2025, aged 81.

He farmed at Bishopstrow Farm, Bishopstrow, for nearly 60 years. He also farmed at Quebec Farm,

A loving husband, father and grandfather, loved by all his family and friends. He will be remembered always.

A funeral service will be held at St. John’s Church, Boreham Road, Warminster, on Tuesday 28th October 2025, at 11.00 a.m., followed by a private family cremation at the West Wiltshire Crematorium, Semington. Family flowers only but donations to benefit Parkinson’s UK and the Wiltshire & Bath Air Ambulance can be made c/o F. Curtis & Son, Funeral Directors, 11 Portway, Warminster.

Warminster Town Council Says No To Change Of An Annexe To A Residential Unit At Ludlow Farm

Monday 13th October 2025

From the MINUTES of the Planning Advisory Committee
of Warminster Town Council,
held on Monday 13th October 2025 at 7.00pm
at
Warminster Civic Centre, Sambourne Road, Warminster BA12 8LB.

Membership:
Cllr Allensby (West) Vice Chairman *
Cllr J Kirkwood (Broadway) *
Cllr Carter (West) A
Cllr Lee (Broadway) *
Cllr Hawker (West) *
Cllr Robbins (East) *
Cllr Keeble (West) Chairman *

Key: * Present A Apologies AB Absent

In attendance:
Officers: Tom Dommett (Town Clerk), Judith Halls (Deputy Town Clerk).

Attendees:
Visiting Councillors: Cllr Stephen Kirkwood
Members of the press: None
Members of the public: One

PL/2025/07617 Ludlow Farm, Bradley Road, Warminster, BA12 7JY
Change of use of former annex and clinic building to separate residential unit (retrospective).
Members unanimously objected to the application on the following grounds: The building was outside the settlement policy boundary.

Lambing Open Day At Farnicombe Farm, Upton Scudamore

Thursday 9th October 2025

Lambing Open Day at Farnicombe Farm Upton Scudamore.
Saturday 11th October 2025
11.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m.

Lambing Shed – meet the ewes and lambs.
Trailer rides around the farm.
Coffee, tea and cake.
Burger BBQ – meat from our farm (charges apply).

Entry £5 for adults, kids go free.
Cash on entry.
All proceeds support St, Mary’s Church, Upton Scudamore.

Joe Dufosee.
blackhillorganiclivestock.co.uk

Concerns About The Activities At Knoll Farm

Wednesday 8th October 2025

Kate Moore has posted on Facebook:

Planning Application: PL/2025/o7191

Site Address

Knoll Farm, Norton Ferris, Warminster, BA12 7FG

Proposal
Change of use of agricultural land and building to storage (class B8), general industrial use (class B2) and light industrial use (Class E (g) (iii), including excavation works, on-site bund, parking, landscaping and external storage.

Kate Moore writes:

Please comment on this application before 28th October. And tell others to do so all along the Wylye Valley.

it is important to state whether you object or support the application at the outset.

It is the very untidy farm area on the left as you go south to Mere between Maiden Bradley and Norton Ferris.

– It threatens the River Wylye which rises just on the edge of the site

– It will further increasing traffic on our beleaguered B3092!

– Kilmington are concerned that it will impact their drainage systems.

Neighbours / consultees say:

“Westcorn Enviro Waste Ltd has been operating unlawfully from this site, a former pig farm, since 2019 without planning permission and is now seeking retrospective approval to continue, and increase, its activities. The business involves the collection, transportation, and recycling of animal by-products (bone, meat, carcasses, fallen stock etc.).

I am concerned the existing activities at Knoll Farm present a number of environmental risks, arising from the following:

Pollution risks to the Wylye: The site, nearby road and adjacent land is prone to serious surface water flooding. Recent works on site appear to include drainage pipes laid to direct water away to ditches which lead to the River Wylye. There does not appear to be any sump or wastewater disposal system, leaving no provision to prevent wash-down water from lorries — containing cleaning chemicals and animal by-products — from flowing into the ditch.

Significant increase in HGV traffic: These activities inevitably mean a marked rise in the number of large lorries using the B3092 and surrounding lanes, which are already unsuitable for sustained heavy vehicle traffic. This raises safety concerns for residents and road users, alongside the added pressure on local infrastructure.

Furthermore, the planning application submission is poorly detailed and lacks any technical justification of the impacts that will (and are already) resulting from activities carried out at this site. A drainage assessment should be provided as well as an ecological survey (currently not part of the submission) to demonstrate the impact to flood risk, local drainage issues and wider ecology. An assessment should also be required to properly quantify and address the impacts of increased lorry traffic on the B3092 and surrounding roads, alongside associated noise and air quality considerations.”

development.wiltshire.gov.uk/pr/s/planning-application/a0iQ300000GQhRVIA1/pl202507191

Where Was Jacob’s Ladder?

Saturday 30th August 2925

Danny Howell writes:
Jacob’s Ladder
Arthur Shuttlewood, in one of his books – Warnings From Flying Friends – Flying Saucer Revelations, published by Portway Press in 1968, mentions that at Botany Farm, Warminster, was a feature known as Jacob’s Ladder. Has anyone else heard of this Jacob’s Ladder? What sort of feature was it? Maybe it was some steps climbing a slope? Does it still exist? Where exactly was/is it? If you have any information about this, please let us know.

___

David J. Jones has responded:
“Around this area is what I’ve know as Jacob’s ladder.”

Which suggests it is one of the steep paths in the Botany Hanging woodland.

The Little Dairy Has Closed

Friday 15th August 2025

A message from Stuart Legg, owner of the Little Dairy at Home Farm, Boreham, Warminster:

“It’s with a heavy heart that we’ve decided to close the milk vending machine. We poured our hearts into this little dairy, but unfortunately, despite all our hard work, the sales just weren’t enough to keep it going. With the machine now broken and a large repair bill looming, we’ve had to make the difficult decision to stop.”

“We want to thank every single one of you who supported us on this journey. Your enthusiasm for our milk meant the world to us. While this chapter is closing, we want to assure you that our commitment to sustainable farming hasn’t changed. We’ll continue to look after our land and our cows in the most environmentally friendly way we can.”