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The former gas site, at Kelham Gardens, is currently empty and abandoned, but during a Wiltshire Council meeting held on Thursday, March 27 permission has been granted to turn the site into the flats subject to conditions. No development can begin until a remediation strategy to deal with contamination risks, a Biodiversity Mitigation and Enhancement Plan, a Construction Traffic and Environment Management Plan, and a Landscape and Ecology Management Plan are all submitted and approved. Work must also begin within the next three years (before March 2028).
A proposal to build nine new flats on the land was initially revealed in April 2023 but the developers struggled to get planning permission after Marlborough Town Council 'strongly' objected due to a lack of affordable housing. At the time, a spokesperson for the town council said: “It was resolved that Marlborough Town Council strongly objects to this application on the grounds that it is not compliant with the Marlborough Area Neighbourhood Plan which specifies up to 10 affordable homes at this site.” During the meeting Marlborough LVA LLP said it has now been agreed that this site would not be viable to deliver 40 per cent affordable housing, due to contamination issues which could add significantly to the building costs.
Residents have also raised concerns about the development increasing existing issues with parking and traffic in the residential street. The area has also been prone to flooding in the past and this has been raised as an area of concern during previous consultations. The Kelham Gardens site is currently abandoned (Image: Wiltshire Council) The development is particularly unusual, as it will be built less than 20 metres of a Thames Water Sewage Pumping Station.
A Wiltshire Council report has warned that "future occupiers of the development could periodically experience adverse amenity impacts from the pumping station in the form of odour; light; vibration and/or noise." However, Thames Water said in the meeting that any potential impact would not be constant as the station is only intermittently used. A mock-up design of the new flats (Image: Wiltshire Council) The development will be close to a Thames Water sewage station (Image: Wiltshire Council) The flats will be made up of four two-bedroom flats on the first floor and four one-bedroom flats on the second floor, which are all positioned in a 'C' shape.
A two-storey building adjacent to the site access will also provide a one-bedroom flat at first floor level. Recommended reading: External materials used will need to be approved by the council and soft landscaping should be carried out in the first possible planting season. Conditions state that the finished homes also can't be used until site access, car parking, turning areas and drainage systems have been completed.
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