More than 20,000 houses should be built in and around Swindon over the next 15 years.

That’s the figure the Government expects the borough council to deliver in a drive to get more homes built.

The authority has drawn up a revision to its local plan, which runs out in 2026, to set out how the borough should develop until 2026.

And one of the headlines is that the town’s housing stock - and by extension is population - will grow by more than a fifth.In 2019 there were just under 99,000 homes in the borough. The draft local plan says there should be another 22,000 by 2036.

The blueprint, which is out for public consultation for another fortnight, sets out where the development should be and it’s clear the council is not looking for more major expansions over the ones already started.

The majority of the 22,000 will go to the New Eastern Villages at 8,900. Other recent expansion areas like Wichelstowe will take 2811, Kingsdown 1650 and Badbury Park and Tadpole Garden Village will take a few more each.

The draft plan says: “A very large number of new homes are already in the pipeline. Many of these new homes are planned within the large-scale new communities allocated for development in the local plan 2026, including the New Eastern Villages and Kingsdown.”

For houses outside the large new developments the council is looking at what it calls graduated dispersal, putting houses on the edges of existing developments. The plan is the houses will be able to be built more quickly because necessary infrastructure such as roads, schools, shopping areas are already there.

The report says: “As part of the graduated dispersal approach, the residual development requirement is focussed on the larger settlements of Wroughton and Highworth, which have the widest range of services and facilities and offer the best opportunities to encourage sustainable transport modes.

Highworth is considered suitable for 866 new homes and Wroughton for 608. Other villages in the borough combined have an allocation of 134.

More than 600 homes could be built in central Swindon, with 250 flats and houses built at North Star House, 200 at Kimmerfields and 35 on land in Old Town near the Corn Exchange.

The people who come to live in these 22,000 extra homes will need jobs and the draft plan also looks at the need for more employment land.

It says existing employment zones should be kept for business and  makes a special point of protecting the former Honda plant at South Marston, now owned and being developed by Panattoni.

But it adds that including the employment areas in the Kingsdown, New Eastern Villages and Wichelstowe growth areas, there is no need for more large-scale employment allocations. “The proposed approach is to supplement these with sites for smaller businesses that have prospects of being developed in the shorter term.”

The plan sets out what sort of open space should be provided with new developments. Estates of more than 20 houses should be provided with general recreation open areas for dogwalkers, joggers and the like. If there are more than 75 houses the builder should also provide play areas for children and teenagers, ranging from small playparks to skateparks. Allotments should be provided  for estates over 800 homes and anything over 1,000 houses should get all that along with proper sports pitches.

The way people get to and from the new developments also matters and at the same time as the local plan, the borough council has updated its local transport plan which is also out for consultation.

It says the council should “encourage development in the town centre, on brown field sites close to existing shops and services, and higher density, mixed use developments to reduce  theneed to travel and the length of journeys, and makes it easier for people to walk, cycle or use public transport.”

Both the local plan and the transport plan consultations run until 5pm on September 16.
They can be seen online and responses can be made at swindon.gov.uk/localplanreview and  swindon.gov.uk/consultations