The Southern Area Planning Committee of Wiltshire Council was scheduled to consider two planning applications. One application was for a self-build detached dwelling at Buxbury Billet, Sutton Mandeville, and the other was for the construction of two affordable houses on land at Top Lane, Stourton. The committee was also scheduled to receive updates on planning appeals.

Buxbury Billet, Sutton Mandeville

The Southern Area Planning Committee was scheduled to consider a full planning permission application for a self-build detached dwelling at Buxbury Billet, Sutton Mandeville¹. The proposal was scheduled to include hard and soft landscaping and associated works. The application was called in by Councillor Nabil Najjar, who believed that granting planning permission was scheduled to improve the appearance of the existing site, support the applicants' specific needs, and provide an improved sustainability to the immediate area.

The report pack indicated that officers were recommending refusal of the application. The site was scheduled to be considered as located outside any settlement boundary and within the Cranborne Chase National Landscape. Officers considered that the proposal was scheduled to result in a new, isolated dwelling in the open countryside, contrary to the sustainable settlement strategy of the Wiltshire Core Strategy² and the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)³. It was also noted that the existing dilapidated structure on the site was not scheduled to benefit from an established lawful residential use. Concerns were scheduled to be raised about the impact on the rural character and scenic qualities of the National Landscape, and the potential for future occupants to be heavily reliant on private vehicles.

While the proposal was for a self-build dwelling, which was scheduled to carry some weight in favour of the application due to an identified need, and the Council's current housing land supply was scheduled to be below the required five years, these benefits were scheduled to be outweighed by the identified harms. The report also detailed that the site was scheduled to lie within a consultation zone for bats associated with the Chilmark Quarries Bats Special Area of Conservation (SAC)⁴, but the Council's Ecology Team was scheduled to raise no objection subject to conditions, including appropriate bat mitigation and lighting strategies.

Land at Top Lane, Stourton

The committee was also scheduled to consider an application for the construction of two affordable houses with associated access and parking area on land at Top Lane, Stourton⁵. This application was called in by Councillor George Jeans, the Chairman, due to the public interest in the proposal.

The officer report recommended refusal of this application. The primary reasons for the recommended refusal were scheduled to centre on the proposal's failure to demonstrate compliance with the requirements for a rural exception site under Wiltshire Core Strategy (WCS) Core Policy 44⁶ and NPPF Policy HO10⁷. Specifically, concerns were scheduled to be raised about insufficient evidence of a current local affordable housing need, doubts about whether the proposed dwellings would constitute affordable housing as defined by national policy, and the absence of a robust mechanism to secure their availability in perpetuity. The site's location, outside of an existing settlement and not considered to be well-related to it, was also scheduled to be a significant factor.

The site was scheduled to lie within the Cranborne Chase National Landscape, and while rural affordable housing was scheduled to be acceptable in principle within such areas, the proposal's failure to meet the rural exception site criteria was scheduled to mean this benefit carried limited weight. The report also highlighted concerns about the inadequate level of private amenity space scheduled to be proposed for future occupiers, which was scheduled to be substantially below the standards set out in the Wiltshire Design Guide⁸. The Council's Highways Engineer was scheduled to object on transport sustainability grounds, stating that future residents would be heavily reliant on private vehicles.

Planning Appeals and Updates

The committee was also scheduled to receive details of completed and pending planning appeals. The provided documents included information on appeals decided between 11 September and 9 October 2026, and appeals received during the same period. These were scheduled to include decisions on applications relating to Flint Cottage in Netton, Beehive Cottage in Salisbury, and the installation of BT Street Hubs in Salisbury.