Most back our Marlborough homes bid, says Crown Estate

According to developers, the Crown Estate, most respondents at the consultation exercise in October were in support of a housing development on the land opposite Tesco and the business park.

During the consultation residents were presented with two options; a scheme providing up to 180 new homes and one providing up to 220 homes with a hotel.

The Crown Estate says that 66 per cent opted for the larger development, which will allow for more affordable housing, with 20 per cent preferring fewer houses. The remaining 14 per cent wanted no development at all.

The Crown Estate’s strategic land manager, Steve Melligan, said: “The consultation feedback reflects the conversations we had with local people at our drop-in exhibitions last month and reinforces the fact that there is strong demand for new homes in Marlborough.

“We will now progress the option preferred by the majority of local people and work closely with the relevant statutory authorities to look at how we can help manage any potential impact of the development.”

A key requirement that came back from the consultation was that the affordable home be made available to local people.

This was the selected as one of the three most important benefits of the proposals by 71 per cent of people.

The second most important benefit was providing investment in local transport and community infrastructure and third was improved connections to the town centre.

More than 277 residents responded to the Crown Estate’s consultation either by submitting feedback at the exhibition, online or via the post.

The consultation included a two day exhibition at Marlborough Town Hall which was attended by almost 300 people.

The Crown Estate will now consider the feedback received from the consultation while developing more detailed plans for the site with a view to submitting a planning application early in the New Year.