Green energy firm plans to build new HQ in town

ALEADING Wiltshire-based renewable energy company has unveiled proposals to expand and develop a new office in its home town.

Good Energy, which was founded in 1999, wants to build a new office complex in Chippenham.

It has submitted proposals to Wiltshire Council for it to develop a car park near the town’s railway station.

As well as the offices, it would build a multi-storey car park to replace spaces lost if the offices are built on the Sadler’s Mead car park.

Good Energy, which employs around 300 people, has grown rapidly in the two decades since its formation.

It generates power via its fleet of wind turbines and also purchases renewable electricity. It supplies electricity and gas to homes and businesses throughout the UK

It says that if the offices are approved it would give it space to add another 100 employees.

However, in the planning documents it has lodged with Wiltshire Council, it has warned that failure for it to secure permission to develop could lead to it looking to move its headquarters elsewhere.

Its planning statement said: “Good Energy has been searching for a new office premises in Chippenham since 2010.

“Having been in the town for an extended period of time, the company has explored a series of options to invest in Chippenham and is committed to seeking new premises in Wiltshire and in Chippenham specifically.

“The Sadlers Mead site represents the optimum solution for Good Energy to remain in Chippenham as alternative sites are either not available or not suitable for the organisation’s requirements.

“If the proposal for Sadlers Mead becomes an unworkable option, the alternative would be for Good Energy to relocate to other locations, which would result in the loss of employment in the town.

“Current vacant buildings around Chippenham do not meet Good Energy’s specific criteria.”

The green energy company says being near the town’s railway station is important – both to satisfy its green ethos and for connectivity to London, with trains taking about an hour to reach the capital from the Wiltshire town.

Wiltshire Council should determine the planning application by the end of January.