Redevelopment of former Bowyer's site in Trowbridge approved

Published by

Peter Davison

How Innox Mills might look

Plans to transform a key site in the heart of Trowbridge town centre are set to proceed after outline planning permission was granted.

The exciting plans for the former Bowyer's factory site, which has been vacant since 2008, include:

A new gateway development, providing 255 new homes for first-time buyers, young families, and downsizers
A new cultural quarter made up of micro-businesses, food and drink, art and independent retail, helping drive footfall and spend in the town centre
A new public amenity and ecology space alongside the riverside, which will be regenerated, complementing the work that is already being done as part of the investment via the Future High Streets Fund
New cycle and pedestrian links from the station to the town centre

Cllr Nick Botterill, Wiltshire Council's cabinet member for strategic planning, said: "We are delighted with the decision.

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"Of all our towns in Wiltshire, Trowbridge is the town centre which is most in need of regenerating.

"Innox Mills is a difficult brownfield site that has festered for decades and been a blight on the whole area.

"What is proposed is highly imaginative and creative and above all demonstrates a commitment and belief in Trowbridge.

'It combines preservation, sensitive refurbishment of heritage assets, new homes and new amenities.

"These all align with the council's aims of having vibrant, well-connected communities. This is very good news for Trowbridge and Wiltshire."

Jonathan Dean from Innox Mills Ltd said: "We are over the moon with the decision, it marks a massive step forward for Trowbridge towards the end of a site that has been an eyesore and millstone for the town for the last 14 years.

"We'd like to thank Stuart Palmen, Trowbridge Town Council, Nick Botterill, Wiltshire Council and all those who have been involved in the process, for all they've done to help bring this forward.

"There remains lots to do but you should start to see movement very soon with the announcement of our development partner and affordable housing provider in the next few weeks.

"The opening of the 'Bowyer's Studios' on Stallard Street in January, which will become a home for artists, artisans and creative entrepreneurs will also see the opening of the footpath across the site to from the train station towards Wicker Hill.

"This path way will also be utilised by Wiltshire College art students who will be exampling their talents on the hoarding.

"We will provide further details once this news has settled in."

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Cllr Richard Clewer, leader of Wiltshire Council, said: "The approval of this planning application is an extremely positive step forward for the regeneration of Trowbridge.

"When combined with the £16 million investment from the government via the Future High Streets Fund, it shows Trowbridge has an exciting and vibrant future.

"This comprehensive approach to development will deliver significant benefits for residents, visitors and traders alike and enables us to improve the town's housing, commercial and cultural offer."

Peter Davison

Peter Davison is deputy editor of The Business Magazine. He has spent his life in journalism – doing work experience in newsrooms in and around Bristol while still at school, and landing his first job on a local newspaper aged 19. By 28 he was the youngest newspaper editor in the country. An early advocate of online news, he spent the first years of the 2000s telling his bosses that the internet posed both the biggest opportunity and greatest threat to the newspaper industry and the art of journalism. He was right on both counts. Since 2006 he has enjoyed a career as a freelance journalist. He lives in rural Wiltshire with one wife, two children, and three cats.