Swindon & Wiltshire News
Government gives green light for medical firm’s warehouse
A major Wiltshire employer has won the final go-ahead for a massive new warehouse.
Gompels Healthcare won planning approval last month after telling Wiltshire councillors that it would move to Coventry with the loss of nearly 200 local jobs if planning permission was denied.
Their decision was against the advice of planning officers.
Gompels wants to build a 245,000 sq ft warehouse and offices on land it owns to the east of Melksham. The building would be 57 feet tall.
Due to the size of the warehouse the final decision rested with the Secretary of State, Steve Reed, who this week announced they would not step in and review the plans – meaning Wiltshire Council’s planning decision stood.
“The Secretary of State has decided not to call in this application. He is content that it should be determined by the local planning authority,” the council was told in a letter.
The planning meeting heard how Gompels had grown the firm from a single shop in 1967 to a £168 million business employing 196 people, 90 per cent of whom are from Melksham.
Managing director Sam Gompels warned decision-makers that after six years and ten potential sites investigated, “our business cannot afford to wait any longer,” and the firm had identified a suitable site at Coventry.
“We would hate to leave. But if the application is refused, then leave we must.”
The application was opposed by local residents, some of whom live no more than 30 metres from where the warehouse will be built.
