Highworth Town Councillors debated what the decision means for the viability of their Neighbourhood Plan.

When Highworth's plan was officially accepted at a Swindon Borough Council meeting earlier this month, it was seen as a great achievement after a lengthy development process involving years of planning, consultations and a referendum.

The Chair of Highworth Town Council’s Planning Committee Pauline Webster had been overjoyed at the approval.

She’d said: “After all these years of hard work by the Highworth Town Council's Neighbourhood Plan committee, we are delighted that our Plan is now 'made' after being given the go ahead from Swindon Borough Council.

“The Highworth Neighbourhood Plan will now become part of the Swindon Plan and will be taken into account when any future planning applications are submitted for Highworth.

“We are all hoping this will give us a bigger say in the expansion plans for our town and help us keep the consultation going with Highworth residents.”

But after developers managed to get approval for 103 houses on land which was not part of Wroughton's Neighbourhood Plan, there are fears that Neighbourhood Plans are too easy to overrule.

Highworth Town Councillors received a letter from Stephen Harcourt, the chair of Wroughton Parish Council, detailing his disappointment with the controversial approval, which they then discussed during their meeting last Tuesday.

Councillor Keith Smith said: “This is a direct attack on communities.

“It’s not good land and it’s quite clearly not in Wroughton’s Neighbourhood Plan and to ride roughshod over that plan makes me furious."

Town Clerk David Lane said: “The problem is that the developers are already sitting on large sites that they are deliberately not developing and then saying Swindon is not building the housing it should be building.

“There’s a bit of chicanery going on here. It’s down to money-grabbers that aren't building because they're going through the back door.”

Councillor Pam Adams said: “This decision on Wroughton negates any Neighbourhood Plan in the country.

“Money talks so, inevitably, the plans will be ignored.”

Councillors suggested asking Justin Tomlinson MP to come to a meeting to discuss the implications of the decision.