A CONSULTATION on controversial plans for a 25-home development at Purton is drawing to a close.

The bid by Hills Homes Development’s Ltd, at a site off Pavenhill is for a mix of housing, including social rented properties.

But it has attracted dozens of objections from villagers who fear that even with calming measures, the extra traffic on the narrow and busy road could result in a child being hurt.

The application has been called in by Wiltshire Councillor Jacqui Lay. She said: “The volume of traffic has increased in recent years and residents have concerns that increased traffic from the site is not sustainable for this location,” she said in her call-in statement.

“Traffic and the issues around parking in the village and the capacity of the roads to take further traffic movements, particularly around peak hours, is a big concern.”

The call-in means the application will be decided by Northern Area Planning Committee members.

Purton Parish Council has objected and said that revised access arrangements and proposed traffic calming measures do not address the issue of road width and the lack of a pavement. A metro count recorded 11,732 vehicles on Pavenhill over seven days in September last year and the council’s view was that the road was unsuitable for such a large scale development.

Rebecca Allsopp said in her objection: “Purton suffered the tragedy of a young child being killed on Station Road last year and this must be prevented from happening again. Upper Pavenhill is viewed as an unsafe route to walk to school and a free taxi service is provided for school children. It makes no sense to build more properties on an unsafe route.”

Tracy Anderson said: “The road is already congested and often vehicles cannot pass each other in the lane, especially as it used by farm vehicles, milk lorries etc. Adding more traffic and pedestrians will be unsafe.”

The application can be seen at wiltshire.gov.uk. Consultation ends on November 8.