Wiltshire refuses 700 houses at Ridgeway Farm

Wiltshire Council went through the formal procedure of discussing whether 700 houses should be built at Ridgeway Farm, to the north of Peatmoor and Sparcells on 15 February, but developers Taylor Wimpey had already forced the issue by calling on the government’s planning inspectorate to decide whether they can proceed.

Councillors on the Wiltshire Council’s Strategic Planning Committee unanimously refused the proposal to develop on Swindon’s borders, endorsing the objections from Swindon Council, three MPs and over 1,032 people living in North Wilts and Purton. The refusal and the objections will now be considered by the planning inspector at a week long public enquiry starting on 9 May in Chippenham.

Taylor Wimpey propose a mix of housing including affordable starter homes, a new primary school and nursery, along with significant areas of public open space and nature conservation areas incorporating recreation and play facilities. In addition there will be local road infrastructure improvements and the potential to improve existing public transport provision.

The developers argue that Ridgeway Farm is a sustainable urban development for Swindon. However Swindon Council’s core planning strategy states that development beyond the borough’s boundaries to the west is not required because land has been allocated within Swindon to meet predicted demand for housing.

South Swindon MP Robert Buckland spoke at the meeting, where he also represented North Wiltshire MP James Gray.  He said: “I am very pleased that Wiltshire Council have voted unanimously to reject this unwelcome application.  Although the matter has already been called in for the appeal in May, the views of councillors and concerned members of the public are a useful part of the process.

“The prospect of an application for development at Ridgeway Farm has been a matter of concern for several years. At two public meetings in early 2010, West Swindon residents expressed strong concerns about the effect of this proposal on traffic flows and quality of life in Swindon.”

Together with West Swindon’s councillors, Robert has opposed these proposals from the beginning.  He added: “Although this application relates to land in Wiltshire, it is Swindon and its residents who will be most directly affected if it goes ahead. 

"Traffic on Mead Way is already extremely heavy at peak times, and will be made much worse with extra housing. Calculations by Swindon Borough Council traffic engineers predicted Swinley Drive, which is a residential road which would connect to the Ridgeway Farm site, would see an 88 per cent increase in traffic at peak times.”

West Swindon councillor Nick Martin said the appeal to the Wiltshire Strategic Planning Committee was a joint effort between Swindon councillors with colleagues in the north of the county and residents from communities on both sides of the border. “The Wiltshire councillors on the committee seemed pleased that Robert Buckland had taken time out of his Parliamentary schedule to speak against the Taylor Wimpey application. It was agreed all round that Swindon did not want to expand into Wiltshire and the county did not want to see the town growing beyond its present borders.

“Addressing the committee, my point to them was that Swindon Borough Council is spending £34 million to build the infrastructure at Wichelstowe in the town’s southern development area, in advance of an upturn of the housing market. Yet Taylor Wimpey just wants to tag their 700 houses on Swindon’s existing infrastructure whilst contributing very little to relieving the problem of traffic congestion, the over-stretched sewage disposal system, and the probability of the River Ray flooding upstream in Swindon communities as a result of water run-off from Ridgeway Farm.

“Swindon Council has made it clear it can accommodate the required number of houses without speculative development outside its boundaries.”

Richard Pagett of environmental group Purton Ps & Qs welcomed Wiltshire’s decision as a move to protect democratic decision making. “Taylor Wimpey could not be bothered to wait for Wiltshire Council’s consideration of the application, despite many questions still to be answered. The Ridgeway Farm application serves the developer’s interest with no thought for Swindon, Lydiard or Purton or anyone who lives there.

“There is absolutely no one who knows anything about the area or its needs who is in favour of this housing but Taylor Wimpey states: “...Numerous studies have concluded that land at Ridgeway Farm/Moredon Bridge represents the most sustainable and appropriate location for this growth.”

“Yet, this location is not sustainable and cannot be demonstrated as such. Taylor Wimpey even refers to the draft National Planning Policy Framework in its arguments, referring to the concept of the '...presumption in favour of sustainable development.'

“However this ‘presumption’ has been widely discredited by many experts from many perspectives and was roundly condemned recently by the Government’s own Communities and Local Government Committee. Is no one listening?

“Taylor Wimpey maintains that the emerging draft Swindon Core Strategy and the draft Wiltshire Council Core Strategy are not important - yet these are the two most important planning documents that we have. Instead, Taylor Wimpey relies on old planning documents stretching back ten years, and even refers to proposals from over 30 years ago and still cites the now-defunct draft 2007 South West Regional Spatial Strategy which the Government has clearly said should no longer be regarded as valid. Their position is all nonsense. 

“Everyone knows that North Wiltshire, indeed the world, has changed irreversibly since then. Taylor Wimpey should not be allowed to ride roughshod over local people and their democratic freedoms and I very much hope that the planning inspector will see the emptiness of their case.”

Kevin Fisher of Shaw Residents' Association also attended the meeting and spoke of the impact from a Swindon resident's perspective. He said: “This was a good day for the democratic process. Every member of the public and elected official that spoke at the meeting was against the proposal resulting in a 100 per cent  negative vote from Wiltshire councillors.

"Now we need to ensure that democracy prevails at the appeal. We have a situation where all democratically elected local representatives are against the development whilst strategic housing plans from both Wiltshire and Swindon specifically rule out development on this land. Should Taylor Wimpey win on appeal it will set a very poor signal for the country as a whole on localism and local democracy.

“Shaw Residents Association is considering making a statement at the appeal. However, to do this we need a clear mandate from local residents. If you support the SRA in voicing a residents association comments against the development, please send an email on [email protected] providing your name and address and a statement that you want the SRA to express your objection to the Ridgeway Farm development.”

View Taylor Wimpey’s application

Planning Reference Number 10/04575/OUT