Hundreds of homes planned for greenfield site

A new development that promises to deliver hundreds of new houses on a controversial greenfield site has moved a step closer to becoming reality.

The applicant, the Hussey Family Trust, wants to build 300 homes on land east of The Marsh on the edge of Wanborough near Swindon.

The trust has asked Swindon Borough Council for its ruling on whether an environmental impact assessment (EIA) must be included in any future planning application.

The site is the same one proposed for a large industrial and science park, which was rejected by the council in August 2020 following the receipt of hundreds of letters of opposition from residents.

The EIA screening opinion application is solely concerned with whether such an assessment is needed in a future application, but it is a reliable indicator that such a proposal is being worked on.

The application said that the "majority of the dwellings will be two to 2.5 storeys, however, some areas will be up to a maximum of three storeys" and that the main access point would be from The Marsh to the west.

It added that "the siting of the proposed development has been informed by the existing landscape, visual and heritage constraints to ensure there are no significant effects on these features."

A masterplan shows most of the houses could be built on the northern part of the site, near the existing houses in The Marsh, with an L-shaped green buffer zone around the development to the south and east.

No decision has been made, but both the borough council's ecology and archaeology officers have told planners that an EIA would be required.

The council refused the proposed industrial and science park on the site in 2020, largely because of its position in a designated area of non-coalescence to prevent Swindon swallowing Wanborough.

An appeal by pharmaceutical firm Wasdell Group was refused in 2022.

Correction 22 December: This headline to this article originally incorrectly said that the land was in the greenbelt. It was amended on the day of publication to correctly say greenfield.

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