Inlands Farm planning appeal for Wasdell quashed by Government Planning Inspector.

SSPG are delighted with the decision received today from the Planning Inspectorate - that the Appeal mounted against Swindon Borough Council’s refusal to grant planning permission for a warehousing and science park at Inlands Farm, Wanborough, has been dismissed.  

This is welcome news for the residents of South Swindon, after what has been a long wait following the appeal inquiry which opened last June and concluded in September 2021.

The inspector Paul Griffiths, appointed by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, produced a carefully balanced and reasoned report, placing great weight on the conservation aspects and setting of the AONB. 

He did not reject the scheme as proposed by Wasdell could have economic benefit for Swindon, and indeed the UK, however he concluded that "the site as chosen at Inlands farm was quite fundamentally the wrong one”.  The benefits claimed could not be seen to justify the harmful impacts it would cause to the character and appearance of the area, the setting of the AONB, and accompanying heritage assets.

John Warr Chair of the SSPG said " this is a amazing result, it vindicates all the hard work by the team and the support from our community,  and I am pleased the Inspector came to the same conclusion as us, right idea, but in the wrong place"

This is an admirable outcome and makes all the considerable effort put in by our community so worthwhile - endorsing that our local rural environment is worth protecting beyond arguments positioned simply for financial gain.