EVEN before they are built, planned new homes along London Road are having an impact over life closer to the centre of Devizes, claims the Trust for Devizes.

The local planning watchdog, set up in the wake of plans to build a brick wall around the Crammer pond in 1967, says it is deeply concerned about the impact that the extra 700 homes, due to be built in the area between now and 2011, will have on the infrastructure of the town.

Last week, Kennet District Council complained to Wiltshire County Council over the refusal of its highways department to undertake a survey to see what impact these new homes would have on the traffic along the already congested London Road.

Then this week came news that Wessex Water is to begin a 31-week operation to lay new water mains along London Road to service the new houses when they are built.

Jeff Ody, chairman of the Trust for Devizes, said: "This pipe laying is the first real sign of the effect on our quality of life that is going to result from the massive new housing developments planned for the town."

So far, there are several large housing schemes along London Road included in the Kennet Replacement Local Plan, which will shortly be sent off to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott for his approval.

They include 230 homes at land off Quakers Walk, at least 120 at Le Marchant Barracks, about 160 at Roundway Mill and others are planned for the former Kverneland agricultural machinery site and Spitalcroft allotments that were not included in the local plan.

Mr Ody said: "All the arguments that have gone on, about 230 houses here or 150 there, have been frustrating but fairly painless. However, we are now moving into a period when these developments are going to hurt. Thirty-one weeks of road works on London Road are just the beginning.

"The Le Marchant Barracks site has already increased by 140 per cent, from 50 to over 120, and other developments may increase in the same way. I suppose we should not be surprised that against this background the county highways authority is unwilling to investigate the effect of all this on Devizes traffic in coming years."