Plans progress for Chippenham's Rawlings Green development

The reserved matters application for the second phase of the huge Rawlings Green development, which includes designs for the layout and appearance of the homes, has been submitted to Wiltshire Council.

Outline permission for up to 650 homes was granted in 2021 and applicants said the development would provide “an attractive, connected and distinctive new community where people will aspire to live”.

READ MORE: Plans for 650 homes and link road progressing in Chippenham

The masterplan submitted to Wiltshire Council. (Image: Crest Nicholson Operations Ltd and Summix Ltd) At the time, the plans generated more than 150 letters of objection, including concerns raised by Chippenham Town Council, Bremhill Parish Council, and Langley Burrell Parish Council.

Now, Crest Nicholson Operations Ltd and Summix Ltd are hoping that the council will give the go-ahead for the design of phase two, which includes 454 dwellings, a care home, five commercial buildings and a country park.

The country park will cover approximately 10ha and will run along the northern and eastern edge of new development, linking to the existing recreation areas along the river to Monkton Park.

The entire phase two site is around 31.6ha in area, with the ground sloping down from west to east towards the river.

Access will be gained from Parsonage Way, via a new railway bridge.

SEE ALSO: Chippenham riverfront project passes milestone

The submitted floor plans for the care home show it will contain a total of 66 bed spaces.

Its location is proposed at the north of the site, near the railway bridge crossing.

The developers have also provided Wiltshire Council with a landscape masterplan which reveals the layout of the site.

The application states: “The landscape strategy seeks to retain and enhance existing key features such as trees and footpaths, whilst adding woodland and amenity space.

“Ultimately the proposal enhances and extends the existing landscape framework, and to assimilate proposed built elements into the surrounding landscape context.”

It also notes: “The proposal will be of a high-quality sustainable design and construction, which will be demonstrated through a Sustainable and Energy Assessment.

“At Rawlings Green, Crest is committed to exceeding national standards and creating a development which does not include any gas boilers and which meets the Government’s Future Homes Standard.”

Wiltshire Council is expected to make a decision on these phase two plans by Monday, January 20, 2025.

The project took a step closer to fruition on Tuesday, May 7, when councillors voted to approve the appropriation of land at Darcy Close.

This will allow the construction of a new link road to the site, via an alteration and extension of the residential area, which is a condition of approval.

Summix says this link road would join the development to the B4069 Langley Road via Parsonage Way and would include a bridge over the railway to Cocklebury Road through Darcy Close.