New Eastern Villages: Developer Danescroft Ltd, will have to provide a study on the environmental impact of building 330 houses to the east of Swindon.

The firm intends to put up the houses as part of the New Eastern Villages scheme.

It asked the borough council whether it needs to make the study before putting in an application to build the houses on the northern half of the land allocated as Foxbridge, to the east of the Wanborough Road, just south of the bridge over the A419.

Planners at Euclid Street have told the company it must make the study, along with developer David Wilson Homes which wants to build 370 houses on the southern half of the land.

The council’s decision says: “The council considers that the proposed development should be considered together with the land described “Foxbridge village south”. The council considers this is necessary to ensure that the cumulative environmental impacts of the Foxbridge village are considered as a single entity, to provide for sustainable development in accordance with Local Plan.”

Shaw: The Village Inn in Ramleaze Drive has been given permission to put up new signs on the front and side entrances to the building as well as signs to its car park and directions.

East Wichel: There will not be a new private medical practice in East Wichel.

At least for the time being.

A proposal for the change of use of buildings used for retail purposes at 36 Trevello Road has been withdrawn by the applicant Igor Kremerov.

Mr Kremerov had been planning to set up the practice to serve the new communities at Wichelstowe with a private medical centre, with a medical aesthetics practice, specialising in treatments such as skin peels and lip fillers as the first tenant.

Old Town: The three storeys of offices above a bank in Old Town can become flats. Developer Holmhurst Ltd, based in Kenton, Middlesex, had asked the council whether it needed to get prior approval from the planning department to convert the upper storey of The Forum in Marlborough Road into 20 apartments.

The ruling was that approval was needed and it has now been granted.

The ground floor and part of the first floor of the large red brick block opposite the corner with Newport Street are used by HSBC bank, though Holmhurst’s application says the lease the bank has for that part of the building was to expires at the end of the year.

Above the bank and its offices the building is empty.

Holmhurst will be able chop up the first, second and third floors into 10 one-bed and 10 two-bed apartments.

Eight apiece would be constructed on the first two floors and four in the smaller third storey.

Town Centre: Another office building could be converted into flats.

Vinesh Aggarwal has applied for prior consent to convert the three-floor block the UK Life Centre in Station Road into 33 flats.

They would be arranged opposite each other across a central corridor running around the hollow rectangle lay out of the building.

Flats would either have views to the outside of the building overlooking Station Road, Milford Street and Beale Close, or the internal courtyard.

Swindon Borough Council is looking to bring in an order protecting office buildings from such easy conversion into flats in a tightly bounded area around the railway station. This will not come into effect before next January.

Rodbourne Cheney: Swindon charity Twigs, which provided therapeutic activities such as gardening for adults who have suffered mental health difficulties, wants to expand.

The charity, which is based at the Manor Garden Centre in Cheney Manor industrial estate, has applied for permission to construct a new workshop at its community gardens.

If permitted the new building will be a one-storey semi-circular design with round porthole-style windows.