Corsham almshouses plan comes under fire (From This Is Wiltshire)

Corsham almshouses plan comes under fire

7:00am Saturday 23rd January 2010 in

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Residents packed a meeting to voice their concerns about a planning application that would see a contemporary £1.5 million build placed next to the Grade I listed almshouses in Corsham.

Trustees of the almshouses, on Lacock Road, have put forward a planning application to Wiltshire Council to create a building of 12 one-bedroom flats for people with special housing needs.

Trustee Guy Hungerford spoke at the meeting at Corsham Town Hall, asking residents to consider the building.

He said: “We are a housing charity for single people. We are the stewards of one of the finest buildings in the West of England.

“When I started, 15 years ago, it was uninhabitable. A small number of people managed to get £1.5million to refurbish the building for social housing. We want to ensure that it is not spoiled.”

But several people said they were opposed to the plans including James Methuen Campbell, owner of Corsham Court Estate.

He said: “There are four Grade I listed buildings in Corsham: Corsham Court, the Bath House within the grounds of the court, St Bartholomew’s Church and the almshouses. Only the almshouses remain unaltered.

“The application could only be justified under two categories, one that the addition would enhance the present building and two that there is an overriding need to build on to it. I don’t think it can be justified.”

Town councillors voted unanimously to recommend the application should be refused.

The application for 12 new almshouses would add to the 11 units they already have for single people aged between 35 and 65, who are struggling to find accommodation.

At the same meeting, revised plans for six flats and 37 homes together with access, landscaping and screening at Pound Mead put forward by Westlea Housing Association were recommended for refusal by town councillors.