FIVE new homes are to be built in Amesbury after Wiltshire Council’s southern area planning committee granted permission at a meeting held on Thursday, despite the objections of the town council and local people.

The application by Weird Projects Ltd for the demolition of existing dwellings to be replaced by five three-bedroom terraced houses in Earls Court Road saw the committee split, with chairman Fred Westmoreland using his casting vote for approval.

He said: “I believe the opportunity to open this area up to the street would be an advantage.”

The town council had objected to the plan on the grounds of the design of the new homes, ecological concerns and possible impact on traffic in the area.

And people living nearby raised concerns about design, traffic and overlooking of neighbouring properties.

Concerns were also raised about the impact on a nearby cob wall and on a historic thatched cottage by the site, which is one of the oldest properties in the town, and about parking, which is to be provided a short distance away from the new homes.

Ruth Underwood, whose former family home will be demolished to make way for the new properties, spoke against the application and had hoped to instead use the site for a community mental health facility.

Cllr Richard Britton, who supported the objectors, said: “This site needs development, no question about it. But is this the right development? No. This seems to me to be exactly the sort of site that lends itself to two-bedroom properties not three-bedroom properties.”

But Cllr Richard Clewer said: “I don’t see what is wrong with this design. We are talking about putting terraced housing on a site that already has terraced housing, and that isn’t very attractive in the first place.”