A WHOLE new village of up to 10,000 people could be on its way to the edge of Swindon.

An application for outline planning permission for one of the new eastern villages so central to Swindon Borough Council’s expansion plans has been put in, and it shows a huge chunk of farmland and pasture to the east of the road to Wanborough from Covingham could be concreted over.

The site, centred on Lotmead Farm between the A420 Oxford Road and Wanborough Road, could see 2,500 homes built.

To go with that, the proposals include nearly 1,800 square metres of land for shops and community centres, as well as a small amount of land about half a football field’s worth of employment land.

The illustrative layout sent to planners at Euclid Street – and shown here – shows that access to the new village is from the Wanborough Road and two new major roads to be constructed to the west and north west. The eastern boundary of the new village is formed by a canal to be constructed as part of the eastern villages project.

There will be two centres to the new village. In the south west, at the nearest point to Swindon proper, a local centre will see a primary school placed near to shops and a community centre.

In the middle of the development will be another centre with more shops, community buildings, another two-form entry primary school and a sports hub with a number of pictures.

Most of the rest of the village will be taken up by housing, although the plans include two sites for solar panel farms on the south eastern boundary.

Encircling the site from north west to south east are woodlands and open fields, and among the houses are dotted several play spaces for children.

The buildings of Lotmead Farm and the pick-your-own business it runs will be retained in the plans put forward by developers ASL.

The company’s planning director, John Brooks, said: “Since 2012 we have had a vision of creating a genuinely vibrant community at Lotmead where people can experience a high quality of life, enjoying wide open space, leisure and sports facilities, and with easy access to shops, cafes and community meeting places where they can meet and get to know each other.

“We have taken on board the earlier findings of the planning inspector, secretary of state, stakeholders and of course Swindon Borough Council, and worked closely with officers to adjust the plans and proposals so that they meet their expectations and aspirations.

“It has felt like a genuinely collaborative process, and we are hopeful that these new proposals will meet with the planning committee’s approval.

“This development forms part of one of the most significant residential construction projects in the country, and will help Swindon meet the requirement for additional new housing that it has identified in its local plan.”

Comments on the plans available at swindon.gov.uk using reference S/OUT/19/0582 should be made by May 15.