Warehouse plans move step closer for market town

Plans to build a massive warehouse in a market town are one step closer after the proposal was agreed in principle.

Gompels Healthcare wants to build a 2450,000 sq ft warehouse and offices on land it owns to the east of Melksham in Wiltshire.

At a meeting of Wiltshire Council's strategic planning committee on Tuesday, councillors considered an application for outline planning permission.

There has been some local opposition to the plans however, and the final decision will rest with the Secretary of State.

Gompels will also have to return with detailed plans before the building is built, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"The impact on our homes will be significant and unavoidable," said one resident who lives near the proposed development.

"Our gardens and living spaces will be dominated by shadow."

He called the application "wholly unreasonable," and said the houses closest to the site would face noise day and night from HGVs loading and unloading.

Paddy Gompels said: "This is a family business delivering 275 meaningful local jobs, from warehouse roles to high-tech programming and pharmacy services.

"It will allow young people to train and build a career without feeling they have to leave Wiltshire behind."

Sam Gompels told how his family had grown the firm from a single shop in 1967 to a £168 million business employing 196 people, 90 per cent of whom are from Melksham.

He added "our business cannot afford to wait any longer," and the firm had identified a suitable site at Coventry.

"We would hate to leave. But if the application is refused, then leave we must."

A motion to refuse planning permission – at the recommendation of planning officers – failed.

Councillors were then told that due to the scale of the proposed warehouse, the decision to grant planning permission would not be theirs to take.

Instead, the matter would be passed to the Secretary of State with a recommendation from the council to approve planning permission.

That vote passed, with the council expecting a decision from the Secretary of State within a month.

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