Ernie Clark. Hilperton Division, Wiltshire Council.

A reply has been received from Wiltshire Council.

The following information has been received from David Hubbard, the senior planner for the Hilperton part of Wiltshire.

'Please find attached notes re the Hilperton Relief Road which were passed to Mark Boden to respond to a recent letter from Duncan Hames MP.

The definition of material start has been much debated in planning over many years and the current position has been reached by way of case law. The current position requires two things to be done.

1. All conditions which require details to be submitted and approved before work commences on site should be discharged. This has been done in this case and the council has confirmed this to the developer by letter of 15th December, 2008.

2. A start needs to be made on the development itself. In terms of a building this might be as little as a section of foundation. In other cases the construction of an access to a site can be a material start. In the case of a road, the council would usually expect some construction work to have started such as excavations and the laying of the base levels of the road for at least a small part of the road. I would add that only a small area of work is necessary to meet this part of the current definition of a material start.

With the definition of 'material start' emerging by way of case law, it is open to challenge and change over time although the current position has remained in place since the late 1990s. In the case of the Hilperton Relief Road the key date by which a material start must be made is 22nd August, 2011.

The long period of inactivity since planning permission for the road was granted has resulted from lengthy negotiations in relation to contributions to the cost of the road by already permitted housing developments on the eastern side of Trowbridge and at Hilperton. The credit crunch, housing market downturn and move to one council in Wiltshire have complicated and prolonged these negotiations although the planning agreement in respect of the strategic east of Trowbridge development is close to being completed. I would anticipate the issuing of planning permission for that development will take place in the near future. The applicants have indicated that they are likely to start development fairly soon after that permission is issued. These developments and the building of the Hilperton Relief Road are linked in terms of phasing and funding because these developments will finance the building of the road.

The removal of hedgerows are best carried out at times of the year when nesting birds are least likely to be disturbed which may be an explanation for the timing of these works in late summer / early autumn so as not to disturb.

As planning law is currently written it is wholly lawful for a developer to make a material start in order to keep a planning permission alive in perpetuity although I accept that this is not how this practice is perceived in other quarters.

Finally, the Area Development Manager for the western part of Wiltshire advises that his section has no proposals before it for housing development in the Hilperton Gap at the present time.'