PEOPLE living close to a former school in Devizes have accused clergy leaders of ignoring their parking worries by packing six houses onto the site.

Darren Saunders of Estcourt Crescent, Devizes, is leading a campaign to have the Salisbury Diocese's plan for Southbroom House in Estcourt Street thrown out.

He said: "The diocese which owns the site has put forward plans for six residential properties, for 20 people. The development only has six parking spaces, half the number that a new build of this size would need.

"In an area which is already over capacity for parking and struggles with congestion how can Wiltshire Council even consider an application like this?

"This is the second application the Diocese have submitted, they are fully aware of the objections raised by concerned residents, but has chosen to ignore them.

"The Diocese is putting profit over the community they say they support."

Wiltshire councillor Sue Evans has asked for the plan to be called in so it can be debated by the eastern area planning committee rather than being decided by officers.

Devizes Town Council has objected to the proposal calling it an over development of the site.

Mr Saunders, who works in finance and has lived in his house for eight years, has written to the Bishop of Salisbury the Rt Rev Nicholas Holtam to express concerns of people living near the site.

In reply Mr Holtam said: "Whilst I regret controversy about a scheme which is intended for the good of all, at this stage it might be best to let the planning process take its course."

Mr Saunders said that Devizes already experiences acute traffic problems, especially in nearby London Road with gridlock for long periods. He said: "The streets and surrounding area are at absolute capacity for on-street parking, due to limited road space, no off-street parking and restricted parking conditions.

"The overspill from the new development simply has nowhere to go. The Diocese and Wiltshire Council are fully aware of this, but are still pursuing the application and trying everything they can to squeeze this over the line. There are far too many homes being added with not enough parking, purely driven by profit."

A number of letters of objection have been sent to Wiltshire Council. Lawrence Nash wrote: "The car parking for residents is bad enough as it is without the additional stress the inadequate car parking of the Old School House will bring."

Jonathan Manning wrote: "It's an absolute joke to put planning in for this. As a past resident and a relative to a resident on Estcourt Crescent it's a shambles too park there now let alone adding more flats."

Kenneth Brown added: "Estcourt Crescent is a very narrow one-way lane. Vehicles are currently parked on one side of this public road, and this makes for skilled driving and negotiation passed parked vehicles.

"Inevitably there will be increased demands placed upon the unrestricted parking spaces on Estcourt Crescent and Estcourt Street."

A spokesman for the diocese said: "The Salisbury Diocesan Board of Education leased a site in Devizes to Wiltshire Council in 1965, and the lease expired in 2015. The SDBE, as trustee of the site, is required by the Charity Commission to maximise the sale value of the site.

"The SDBE has submitted a planning application and has followed due process with Wiltshire Council, architects, planning officers and the highways officer. After taking advice, the application was re-submitted and Wiltshire Council will make a decision in the near future."