How pleased I was to hear Councillor Andrew Bennett inform the planning committee councillors at their last meeting on November 11 that, despite his passionate protestations in favour of a planning application for four large houses in a flood risk area of Wanborough, he was not a representative of the agent whose application he was so adamantly supporting. What a pity, I thought, that Coun Andrew Bennett, my ward councillor and that of all those residents who had objected to the proposed development, hadn’t taken the time to seek the views of those who most probably elected him.

It was nice to see he had time to chat amicably to the agent before the meeting in the council chambers at the Civic Offices. But, hold on….why was he at the planning committee meeting? Is he on that committee? No. Well, surely he didn’t attend specifically to speak in support of the application. Yes, he did! The proposed development is for four very large detached houses to be placed adjacent to a dangerous double bend on a narrow country road, in an area prone to flooding. The Marsh, Wanborough is so named for obvious reasons and anyone driving down it after a period of heavy rain will know how quickly the road can flood. When did this last happen? Now, let me think. Oh, yes, on August 2 this year, in a summer month!

I was extremely surprised that despite informing the planning committee of legitimate reasons why this development was not a good idea, they found in favour of the application by 5 votes to 4 and did not follow the recommendations of the Swindon Borough Council officer who had investigated the soundness of this proposal on their behalf. I sincerely, hope that those councillors who supported this development do not come to rue their decision when localised flooding increases as a result. Oh, and did I just hear on the news that we are going to have one of the wettest winters ever? Watch this space... or rather, watch another green space disappear. Fields around The Marsh help to retain water; concrete doesn’t.

Sally Inskip The Marsh Wanborough