'Shock' that largest housing development in Wiltshire was approved
On Tuesday, July 29, Wiltshire Council approved plans for the Ashton Park development to the south east of Trowbridge.
It will have 14 hectares of employment land, two primary schools, and allocation for a secondary school.
The development will be built in four phases, with phase one - the part closest to Trowbridge - consisting of 350 homes, 375 in phase two, 725 in phase 3, and 750 in phase 4. 26 per cent of the homes - 650 in total - will be designated as affordable housing.
The developer – Ashton Park Trowbridge Ltd & Persimmon Homes Ltd - are paying over £25 million to provide vital services including early years provision and schools (£14 million), bus routes - one bus an hour after occupation of the 51st home, and one every 30 minutes after completion of the 401st (£1.1 million) - and health care and NHS dental provision (£3.4 million).
They are also footing the bill for a new £35.5 million relief road, which will see the A350 diverted away from the village of West Ashton and closer to the new houses.
During a marathon two-and-a-half-hour discussion at the council's strategic planning committee meeting, members were assured that legal agreements between the developers, landowners, and council are ready to be signed.
The announcement that it would be approved has been slammed by residents and readers.
Dean Plumley described the announcement as 'shocking', arguing that traffic was already at a limit ahead of the addition of thousands of prospective homes.
He commented: 'Shocking really, here we all are screaming about Trowbridge fit to bursting, now we get this, living in Newtown, it's bad enough school run traffic, this will just add to the over stressed road network.'
(Image: Wiltshire Council)
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Some readers were concerned about the provision of education facilities in the plans, specifically with the decision to plan for primary schools, but only to allocate for the proposed secondary school Catherine Knight said: 'We have schools this side of Trowbridge, Staverton and Hilperton which are not full due to low birth rate and a few more across Trowbridge, so it would make sense to allocate to these schools. Build the secondary school first!'
While the plans indicate that the homes will be delivered alongside, a number of comments emphasized the need for more infrastructure, and that that was required ahead of the addition of thousands of dwellings.
Knowlesy Knowles wrote: 'Make them build all of the infrastructure first, far too many times they build the houses then fail to build the rest.'
Others, meanwhile expressed sadness about the location of the development, lamenting the loss of the green space the development will be built on.
Diane Pattison responded by writing: 'Absolutely ridiculous! There won't be any green fields left in Wiltshire soon!'
Kerri Raynor, meanwhile, wrote: 'I don't see this as a good thing, we live right next to the fields and having that space to walk is great it'll be such a shame to lose that and all the wildlife, plus it floods every year! Surely the Infrastructure in and around Trowbridge can't cope either from road network to health care to the Town Centre and Park. So sad.'
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