PLANS to build a car park and houses have once again been submitted for a field off Symn Lane in Wotton.

The previous submission from Colburn Homes featured 10 houses, a 96-space car park and coach space, these were withdrawn in April and have now been altered.

Colburn’s proposal is now to build 12 houses, and an 80-space car park with two coach spaces behind Wotton fire station.

Eight of the four homes will be detached with four in a terraced row, the houses will be a mix of two-bed, three-bed and four-bed with garage spaces and visitor parking spots.

As part of the proposals a new access road will be created onto Symn Lane between the Chipping Surgery and the fire station.

In its application, Colburn Homes states: “We consider that this site is suitable, available and development is achievable in the next five-year period. “It is also considered a sustainable location for development to meet the challenge of boosting significantly the supply of housing.

“It is acknowledged that the scheme would not provide affordable housing or any other financial contributions, however in the planning balance this would be outweighed by the overwhelming public benefit of a new car park and the associated necessary enabling development.”

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Above - The proposed design of the homes

Wotton Town Council voted eight to two to object the previous iteration of the plans in January following a fiery debate amongst residents who attended the public meeting.

This was on the basis that the plans encroached on the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and would worsen congestion in the town, along with an increased safety risk for pedestrians.

It will meet on November 13 to discuss the latest proposal.

A handful of residents have already left comments on the application, which has previously proved extremely controversial in the town.

Mark Spencer commented: “This application was objected to by many Wotton people when it was submitted.

“It was also objected to by Wotton Town council for many of the reasons given by members of the public voiced at a public meeting we attended in January of this year.

“Nothing has changed since that meeting and feelings are still running high with people wanting to protect our landscape for future inhabitants to enjoy, so I still strongly object to this application.”

Shaun Pettitt raised concerns over the increased road usage that the development would bring.

“Symn Lane is already very busy with, in extremely close proximity to this development, a thriving doctor’s surgery, a fire station, a swimming pool and a primary school,” he said.

“Access in and out of this area is already extremely busy, regard should be given to pedestrians.

“As a doctor’s surgery and primary school are nearby this should be given extra thought as two vulnerable groups of the community (unwell people & children) will be regularly trying to access this area.”

Virginia Mann, who owns a shop in the High Street with her sister, says that the new car park proposal is “a big opportunity to help support local enterprise and keep Wotton thriving”.

“We get many comments from customers complaining about how hard it is to park in the town,” she said.

“If we want to encourage people to visit Wotton from further afield we need it to be easy for them to park when they get here.

“We really want to stay in Wotton and we see the new car park as a big opportunity to help support local enterprise and keep Wotton thriving.”

To view the proposed development in full visit the SDC planning website and search for application S.17/2307/FUL.