Page 35 - link magazine

swindonlink.com • December 2009 35
Crest demand

2,500 houses for
Tadpole Farm
Crest Homes, which owns the land
to the north of Tadpole Lane, adja-
cent to Oakhurst and Redhouse, is
demanding that they be permitted
to build 2,500 houses - 1,000 more
than was originally conceived for
the site.
The number is revealed in the
responses to the Swindon Core
Strategy for development of 34,000
homes up to 2026 which was agreed
by the council in October.
Swindon Council originally set
1,500 homes for the site in the early
drafts of the core strategy consulta-
tion. This was increased to 2,000
after developer comments.
Now that public consultation on
the Core Strategy is over, Crest is
demanding a 25 per cent increase
in the housing allocation.
The plan is now with a planning
inspector who is expected to pro-
duce a report by April.
Crest supports its demand by
stating that Tadpole Farm is the best
site in Swindon to develop a large
number of houses in a short time to
meet government housing targets.
The company claims the 12,000
home development to the east of
the town (south of the A420) would
be a complex project and would not
provide houses at the expected rate.
Subject to permissions Crest
envisage starting to build in
2011/2012.
The company proposes a bus-
based rapid transit scheme for
Tadpole Farm which will transport
people into the town centre in under
20 minutes.
Therefore Crest say there is no
reason to build the long awaited
link road extending Thamesdown
Drive to Great Western Way - first
proposed when the North Swindon
development was agreed in the
early-1990s. The cost of building
this has been estimated at over £100
million and Crest objects to mak-
ing any financial contribution to it.
Thamesdown Drive and Mead
Way through West Swindon are
already congested, but the Crest
proposal ignores the fact that Priory
Vale is not yet completed and 2,500
additional homes to the north will
inevitably generate increased traf-
fic volume.
• The 3,000 homes to the west of
Swindon in north Wiltshire - see
left - will have a major impact on
traffic volume if it were to go ahead.
Read the Swindon Core Strategy
www.swindon.gov.uk/environment/
forwardplanning/environment-for-
ward-localdevelopmentframework/
corestrategy
See The Link’s coverage in the April
edition at www.swindonlink.com

21-52 December 09.indd 35 20/11/2009 14:48