Plan for the south changed after public consultations

Comments made by the public on the plans to develop 4,500 houses in Swindon's 'front garden', between Old Town, West Swindon and the M4 have resulted in amended outline proposals to Swindon Council's planning committee by developers Bryant Homes.

These focus on:

• improved traffic and transport provision including significant improvements to M4 Junction 16 to ease traffic flow and completion of the Old Town Southern Relief Road, parallel to the motorway, within five years of the project start;
  
  
• ecology and the environmental issue to protect and enhance wildlife habitats by providing a new 11.3 hectares newt conservation area, and alterations to the development along the canal to protect existing water vole habitat;
  
  
• increased allocation of land for public open spaces in the urban areas;
  
  
• extensive landscaping and nature conservation measures to the south of the M4.

To maintain the number of homes on the site, the overall average residential density has increased from 40.6 to 41.3 dwellings per hectare. As before, the height of the buildings will not exceed five storeys and building heights will be varied to ensure the higher ones are located in local centres.

Changes have also been made to land allocated for other uses, such as employment and mixed use areas, to make these amendments possible. Flooding continues to be a major concern for groups objecting to the development and no building will take place in the floodplain, as approved by the Environment Agency.


The restored North Wilts Canal has become an even more important feature of the proposals. A second canal basin has been introduced at the western end of the site, to act with the new canals and balancing lakes as water storage capacity to ensure that none of the developed areas are affected by flooding.

However the Front Garden Action Group is still resolute in its opposition to the proposals. Chairman Terry King said the main objections raised five years ago were just as strong. These are the risk of flooding, noise from the M4 and the railway, the needs of wildlife, damage to archaeological sites and traffic congestion.

"In the early 1990s the council objected to the development, but having taken ownership of the site in 1997 the council is keen to see it built on. The councillors' decision was based on a technical appraisal in favour of the Front Garden development and against development east of the A419, notwithstanding at least 47 errors and omissions in the document. Now we suddenly have the extraordinary proposal by the council for more development to the east of the A419 which was considered to be less sustainable than the Front Garden. What a pity they did not agree to development of that area five years ago, thus developing one greenfield site, not two."


An exhibition and the plans can be seen at Swindon Council offices in Premier House, Station Road until 31 October.

All houses in the borough will have received a newsletter during October and the amended planning documents can be found at: www.swindonsda.co.uk