Plans for the development of site of the former St Peter’s Junior School – probably the last multi-dwelling site available in the town centre – do not include any affordable housing.
Local development company Sherbourne Developments have applied to Wiltshire Council for planning permission to turn the iconic and listed building that fronts onto The Parade and London Road, into a boutique hotel with eight new homes.
The Sherbourne Developments Group, which is based in Hertford Court on the Marlborough Business Park, have set up a separate company – Sherbourne St Peter’s Ltd – to handle the development of the site.
The planned hotel will have 23 rooms, three main dining rooms, a reception area, a separate bar and private dining area. As can be seen in the above illustration, there will be seven new-build homes and the conversion and extension of an existing out building will provide the eighth new home.
There is a little more description of the development – to be known as St Peter’s Mews – and its intended clientele on the company’s website: “St Peter’s Mews will comprise of eight classically designed, bespoke properties, a boutique hotel and an exclusive high-end restaurant and bar.”
The application gives more information about the new homes: “The house types have been specified so as to provide for a range of needs, with some smaller properties, without private gardens, being provided at the more affordable end of the spectrum, and a single storey unit provided to meet the need for more bungalows.”
However the number of new homes on this development falls below the threshold that triggers the inclusion in any new housing development of 40 per cent of affordable homes. So it will contain no affordable homes.
The application quotes extensively from national planning guidelines and Wiltshire Council’s policies, it also references the as yet incomplete Marlborough Area Neighbourhood Plan (MANP) – work on which has emphasised the town’s need for more affordable homes.
But the application notes how the hotel and homes would fit with some outcomes of the MANP’s consultations. It quotes the stated desire for a greater emphasis on tourism and for more employment: “It is therefore the case that there is clear support for the proposals even at the Neighbourhood level.”
As to be expected with a site that is so close to the River Kennet, there is a full Flood Risk Assessment. The application points out that a new residential home has already been given planning consent for the Bridge Garage site – which is as close to the river as some of the new homes will be.
Neither the air quality assessment or the transport assessment predict any increases in traffic or poor air quality due the development. The air quality assessment plays down the existing poor air quality levels in that part of the London Road.
On traffic the assessment states: “…it is concluded that there will be no severe residual cumulative impacts resulting from the development nor an unacceptable impact on highway safety and that, accordingly, this application should not be prevented or refused on highways grounds.”
The developers have already had an archaeological evaluation of the site undertaken by Foundation Archaeology of Swindon. This included digging three twenty metre trenches across the site. The report on the evaluation will not be made public till it has been approved by Wiltshire Council.
The application reveals that before Wiltshire Council put the site on the open market they had checked whether it was needed to meet “any service or operational demand”: “This included specific approaches to various parties in attempts to find a new user for the site, including; the Council’s Head of School Place Commissioning Team; the Head of Service for Economic Development and Planning and a further round of canvassing including the Fire Service, Police, CCG and NHS. No requirement was raised…”
The layout proposed in the plans may cause some concerns in the town. Although the developers emphasise that “Changes to the original building have been kept to a minimum, with a more logical and symmetrical layout to provide compatibility with the layout whilst facilitating the proposed use and allowing the original form of the building to be easily read.”
Consultation on the plans ends on 9 January 2020 and the target date for a decision by Wiltshire Council is 27 January 2020. Once the Town Council have had their (advisory) say and planning consent has been secured, completion of this development can be expected in mid 2022.
The full planning application can be accessed here.
