ONE of Wootton Bassett's best-known landmarks will be torn down to make way for 30 new houses.

Developer Bach Homes has won its application to demolish The Beaufort Arms pub in Station Road and replace it with two, three and four-bedroom properties.

Number 5 New Road will also be demolished to allow the development to be completed.

Members of North Wiltshire District Council's development control committee heard the application on Wednesday.

The plans were delegated to planning officers for approval at a later date.

The application will be granted under the condition that Bach Homes provides affordable housing, that the site allows for enough public open space and the developer makes a contribution to education.

The whole application details four four-bedroom, six three-bedroom and 19 two-bedroom homes and one two-bedroom flat. There will also be five garages, two car ports and 34 parking spaces.

Wootton Bassett Town Council opposed the application at an earlier meeting of the district council, claiming that the plans would cause a loss of parking spaces in New Road.

Councillors also said that the development was opposite an historical footpath and was too dense for the area.

Residents sent in 18 letters of complaint, saying that the building would be a great loss to the area because it was so attractive.

They also said that there was no need for the extra housing, the build would cause parking issues and would represent over-development of the site.

Residents in nearby Morstone Road have also lost their fight against plans to build on a piece of land in the street.

The district council granted the application for a three-bedroom detached house at the same meeting on Wednesday night.

Family Housing Association will build the two-storey, detached house on the plot beside Ruxley Close.

Despite pleas from objectors, the build was given the go-ahead on the condition that the work begins within three years.

Residents had previously argued that the three-bedroom house will be an over-development of the street, causing parking problems and loss of privacy for other residents.

Town and district councillor Peter Doyle, who lives in New Road, said: "I think it is a great shame and will end in an important community resource being lost.

"This is the consequence of what John Prescott has done to the planning system in making it extremely difficult for planning committees to reject applications for in-fill buildings."