Plans to double size of Amesbury’s Solstice Park are fundamentally flawed

Proposals to develop a 64-hectare greenfield site to double the size of the industrial/distribution zone at Solstice Park in Amesbury are fundamentally flawed, incompatible with Wiltshire Council’s own HGV Route Network framework as well as the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), and would lead to further congestion and delays on the A303, according to a report by Velocity, an independent transport consultancy whose clients include some of the UK’s largest landowners, developers and landlords.

The report is the latest in a string of damning environmental, ecological and demographic reports commissioned by Sustainable Amesbury. Specifically, Velocity’s report concludes:

  • The proposed site is “poorly located for local and regional distribution, as set out within the framework of the Wiltshire Local Transport Plan 2011-2026 Freight Strategy (March 2011)”.

  • The vast majority (80%) of those who would work there would have to travel by car, making the site “inherently unsustainable in transport terms and development would be contrary to the stated aims of paragraph 105 of the NPPF”.

  • It would make the current rat run through Solstice Park from the A303 worse, meaning the proposed development is “not conducive to the safe and efficient expansion of logistics operations”.

  • Significant additional delay and congestion is expected in the area during the A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down improvements.

Chris Gent, director of Velocity, said: “Amesbury is not an appropriate location in transport terms for intensification of industrial and logistics employment... Development would be contrary to local and national transport policies and would likely result in severe highways and environmental impacts. If there is demand for this type of employment space within Wiltshire, it should be located close to interchanges on the Wiltshire HGV route network.”

Sophy Buckley of Sustainable Amesbury said: “This report puts into technical terms what we already knew, namely that Amesbury is the wrong place for further development on this scale. The area just can’t cope. It isn’t fair on the residents who live here, the lorry drivers who pass along the A303 and the companies that use our road network to deliver goods and services. Rather than offering a sustainable growth option, further development at Solstice Park could shrink our fragile local economy, with increased traffic, pollution and noise costing us dearly.”

The full Velocity report can be found here.

Velocity

Velocity Transport Planning is a specialist transport planning consultancy serving both public and private sector property development clients including British Land, Redrow, St James, Grosvenor, Knight Frank, Taylor Wimpey, Savills, Peabody and Aberdeen Standard.