By Tanya Yilmaz, Trowbridge and Melksham reporter

THE Shaw Trust has reassured Trowbridge residents that they have no intention of moving from the Palmer Gardens centre after the land was listed in a housing site allocation consultation earlier this year.

In March, the public was encouraged to comment on the informal consultation, which outlined how a further 5,345 new homes need to be built in Wiltshire to meet overall housing requirements – 1,649 of which were identified in Trowbridge.

Among the sites put forward was the current Palmer Gardens site and the nearby hospital.

But now the Shaw Trust has said that the idea of building houses on the site in Islington is “ludicrous” and added they had no idea who initiated the consultation.

Joel Charles, a spokesman for the charity, said: “Palmer Gardens remains open and unchanged. Shaw Trust has not submitted a planning application to build houses on the site. It was originally agreed that the site should be used for community benefit and Shaw Trust ensures that Palmer Gardens complements that principle.”

The national charity works to help disabled and disadvantaged people gain skills and get into work.

The consultation hoped to shape the Wiltshire Housing Site Allocations Development Plan Document, which will allocate new sites for housing and amend, where necessary, existing settlement boundaries.

A Wiltshire Council spokesman said while it could not identify the developer or company that had initiated the consultation, it was not the council that proposed housing for Palmer Gardens.

It added that anyone can propose to build on land that is not in their ownership but before submitting an official planning application, they must acquire or own it.

Cllr Nick Blakemore, who represents Trowbridge Adcroft, said people at the time of the consultation contacted him about the plans, but added due to the land being intertwined in a covenant, the land must be used for education and community purposes.

The Shaw Trust announced back in August that it was moving its headquarters to Bristol in a move to expand its services after being located at the White Horse Business Park.

The move, however, did not impact on Palmer Gardens.

Mr Charles said: added that despite any rumours that have recently circulated, “the consultation has not come from us and we do not know what has gone on but Palmer Gardens is one of the most important garden centres for the Shaw Trust and it is very frustrating because we have had a number of calls about this.“Palmer Gardens will remain open for business and we are not aware of or had any notice about any housing allocation.”

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Comments (1)

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2:40pm Sun 1 Nov 15

hareymary

says…

It would be completely wrong for the site to be sold for housing as it was given to Trowbridge; “for the use and enjoyment of children attending public elementary schools in Trowbridge or for such other purposes of the council as the local education authority may from time to time think fit.” At the start the gardens were divided up into four plots, each one belonging to a group of schools. The schools involved were Newtown, Trinity, Parochial and Adcroft. The plots were mainly planted with vegetables, but flower beds were also planted by the girls’ schools (!). A pond was also constructed. The long Wiltshire Times report even details the types of plants that will be grown as well as giving the names of some of the teachers involved.
Later, it seems, the gardens were used as school gardens mainly by Adcroft Senior Boys’ School and as an evening class gardening centre until 1939. During the war the gardens were used for food production and afterwards they were a demonstration teaching centre for teachers and children and as a county supply for plants for Wiltshire schools and colleges as well as to old peoples’ homes and police stations. Then in 1981 the County Council controversially decided to sell the gardens to save money. It was then that the Shaw Trust took over.
Shaw Trust started in the village of Shaw in Wiltshire and was registered as a charity in 1982. It was set up originally by five local people to help a small group of disabled individuals achieve their employment aims. In 1984 the Trust was able to take over the two acre nursery of Palmer Gardens, with the aim of providing “employment, training and vocational opportunities for young, severely disabled people in the area”. Shaw Trust is now one of the largest providers of employment services for disabled people in the UK, employing around 1600 people, and “works with around 78,000 clients a year to overcome barriers to employment, inclusion and independence”.
The current use is entirely appropriate and should not be lost.

It would be completely wrong for the site to be sold for housing as it was given to Trowbridge; “for the use and enjoyment of children attending public elementary schools in Trowbridge or for such other purposes of the council as the local education authority may from time to time think fit.” At the start the gardens were divided up into four plots, each one belonging to a group of schools. The schools involved were Newtown, Trinity, Parochial and Adcroft. The plots were mainly planted with vegetables, but flower beds were also planted by the girls’ schools (!). A pond was also constructed. The long Wiltshire Times report even details the types of plants that will be grown as well as giving the names of some of the teachers involved.
Later, it seems, the gardens were used as school gardens mainly by Adcroft Senior Boys’ School and as an evening class gardening centre until 1939. During the war the gardens were used for food production and afterwards they were a demonstration teaching centre for teachers and children and as a county supply for plants for Wiltshire schools and colleges as well as to old peoples’ homes and police stations. Then in 1981 the County Council controversially decided to sell the gardens to save money. It was then that the Shaw Trust took over.
Shaw Trust started in the village of Shaw in Wiltshire and was registered as a charity in 1982. It was set up originally by five local people to help a small group of disabled individuals achieve their employment aims. In 1984 the Trust was able to take over the two acre nursery of Palmer Gardens, with the aim of providing “employment, training and vocational opportunities for young, severely disabled people in the area”. Shaw Trust is now one of the largest providers of employment services for disabled people in the UK, employing around 1600 people, and “works with around 78,000 clients a year to overcome barriers to employment, inclusion and independence”.
The current use is entirely appropriate and should not be lost.
hareymary

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