THE fight to block a housing development on contaminated land took another twist on Wednesday when councillors again asked for more time to assess some of the applications.

Residents in Corsham have been campaigning for months to block the 600 home development planned for Pockeredge Farm and Peel Circus in Corsham.

Developers Persimmon Homes received outline planning permission for the site in January. But residents fear that the development will disturb harmful chemicals in the soil, such as picric acid, which were discovered in a council survey.

At Wednesday's Development Control Committee meeting district councillors voted for a working group to look further into the site's remediation and a planned access road.

The working group will operate on an ad hoc basis for two planning cycles. It is likely to feature town councillors as well as councillors and officers from North Wiltshire District Council.

Councillors voted in April to defer the decision on the access road until they had more information on the harmful chemicals. The campaigners, who are now backed by Corsham Town Council, feel this and Wednesday's vote shows district councillors are beginning to share their fears.

Councillors criticised the imprecise information they had been given on the site. Cllr Roy Jackson said: "I'm still extremely concerned about the application. Please let's have no development until all this is sorted."

The Environment Agency said the site's proposed clean up "appears to offer a satisfactory solution." Cllr Jane Scott said: "I think that we need to push the Environment Agency to give us better than 'appears to'."