PLANS to build on green fields around Lydiard Park have been greeted cautiously as some residents fear any objections would simply result in a worse outcome if the application is granted on appeal.

Developers Taylor Wimpey invited members of the public to view the plans at Lydiard House Conference Centre today, which include building 50 homes on three hectares of land adjacent to the beauty spot.

Included in the plans are proposals to gift the remaining 27 hectares back to a community group or the local authority.

John Cook, 76, of Greenmeadow, was born and bred in Lydiard and said he is deeply sceptical.

“I do not want to see the park spoiled,” he said.

“It is supposed to be a country park so we need to keep a bit of open space around it. I think if we turn it down they will only go back and appeal, and then we will end up with something worse.

"None of us want these houses built, and I haven’t heard of a soul who does. I do not want to see Lydiard engulfed by houses.”

Derek Tombes, 76, of Lydiard, said any new homes could set a dangerous precedent.

“Lydiard have been fighting for a while to keep that border,” he said.

“I am just hoping they will keep their word and give the surounding land back to the community. The problem is they use it as a marker. When they built the hospital they did it way out from the town so they could establish a marker and build in between. In the end I think this will be the tip of the iceburg.”

But not everyone is entirely oppsed to the plans.

Roy Budden, 67, of Freshbrook, said: “I think it’s quite a good idea because people do need places to live.

"They are not sticking it in the middle of the park, they are keeping it over where the border already sits with the other housing.

“Giving the land back to the community would also open it up to people more than it was, with new footpaths.

"That would be quite reasonable, and on the face of it it would not be over-developed, along with existing housing on the other side of Tewkesbury Way.”

Phil Johnson, 43, of Woodhall Park, is concerned about the influx of traffic.

“While it is only 50 houses that’s an extra 100 cars,” he said.

“Wiltshire is going to approve this, but the traffic has got to go back into Swindon while there is no infrastructure for it. I travel Mead Way every day and that can take 45 minutes to get through.

“Traffic from Ridgeway Farm is also going to be cutting through that way because there is nowhere else to go. You will have 700 houses feeding onto Mead Way on top of these, and that is always going to be a single carriageway.

“The fear is if they go to appeal they might end up planning for the whole site.”

A Taylor Wimpey spokesman said: “We were really pleased with the turnout at our consultation event on Wednesday, with a good number of local people coming along to find out more about our plans and provide their feedback.

“The purpose of the event was to give people the chance to have their say on what we are proposing for the Lydiard Tregoze site, and we will take all comments into consideration as we start the process of preparing our planning application for submission in due course.”