Wroughton 'sold down the river' by Highworth homes decision

Swindon Borough Council voted in favour of removing the proposals from its local plan at last Thursday's full council meeting.

But coun Cathy Martyn (Con, Wroughton & Wichelstowe), has said the vote will "give Highworth what they want, whilst Wroughton gets sold down the river".

She questioned "the openness, the fairness & the impartiality" of the decision, saying:  "Wroughton is not against housing development," she said.

"Our position has always been, and remains, that the starting point should be the land which residents agreed they were willing to see being developed for housing, which was identified in the local referendum for the Wroughton Neighbourhood Plan covering the period 2016-2026, and which was subsequently found to be sound."

The local plan covers the entire borough, setting out housing, infrastructure, industry and environment policies for the Swindon area through to 2036.

But the Highworth proposals received more feedback than any other area.

Coun Steve Weisinger, for Blunsdon and Highworth, said to have kept the plans would have been a retrograde step and implored councillors to vote in favour of the amendment.

But coun Martyn said they were told that once sites had been allocated, they could only be withdrawn for sound planning reasons, before working with residents to successfully get a number of sites withdrawn from previous versions of the local plan.

"And following our objections to what’s proposed for Wroughton by this Local Plan, we fully intend to make those objections known at the public inquiry, if it goes ahead with the sites as they are," she said.

"If you’re not happy with the sites as allocated, you should vote against the original motion, not seek to amend it, because if you withdraw this Highworth site, you will undermine the soundness of the whole plan.

"The decision making could potentially be criticized as being subjective, and open to political whim.

"And in Wroughton, we would be left in an invidious position."

"Because Wroughton has been allocated a site which it now appears may not be developable, yet this motion seeks to withdraw a site in Highworth which is developable.

"This motion will give Highworth what they want, whilst Wroughton gets sold down the river. Where is the openness, the fairness & the impartiality in that?"