CAMPAIGNERS in Westbury and Hilperton are celebrating after a planning inspector told civic leaders to reconsider the routes of the Westbury Bypass and Hilperton Gap road.

A report by inspector Derek Mumford was released this week following last year's six-month inquiry into the West Wiltshire District Plan 1st Alteration.

In the inquiry process, which ran between March and September, Mr Mumford examined how the district council had developed the plan and heard from dozens of objectors and read hundreds of objections. Among his conclusions he supports a Hilperton relief road, but recommends the councils reconsider route options, in particular an alternative route to the north of Hilperton from Devizes Road to Marsh Road.

The Friends of Hilperton Gap welcomed the recommendations saying it was important there was a full debate and all routes were considered before the road is built and the Gap destroyed.

Cllr Steve Oldrieve said: "I am delighted and thank all those involved with the Friends of the Hilperton Gap for their campaign."

The inspector supported the district council's move to allocate land in the Gap for recreational uses.

Mr Mumford also recommended the councils reconsider the route for a Westbury Bypass, in the light of the awaited A36/A46 Bristol/Bath south coast study.

John Osborne, of Westbury Bypass Alliance, said the report was excellent news and very timely. Campaign-ers against the eastern route have organised a picnic on June 22 for everyone to see the effect a bypass would have on the landscape.

Mr Osborne said: "We very much welcome what the inspector has said and he does seem to query the conclusions drawn by the county council from the consultants' report when deciding the route."

A spokesman for Wiltshire County Council said the council had not yet had the report and needed to look at the inspectors' comments in detail before it could comment.

The inspector supported all the proposed housing allocations in the district plan, but recommended the addition of five new sites, an extra small greenfield site by Westbury hospital and four greenfield sites in the Trowbridge area at Staverton Triangle, New Terrace in Staverton, Blue Hills at Devizes Road, and Hilperton, north of Green Lane.

All other housing sites put forward for inclusion by objectors were rejected.

Planning policy manager Mark Russell, of West Wiltshire District Council, said: "The inspector has supported most of our key proposals, including all of our brownfield and greenfield housing allocations.

"He has also made some useful recommendations, and we will now be considering them before consulting on our conclusions this autumn.

"We hope to have a final plan ready for adoption by next spring."

Findings

The inspector's findings for the five west Wiltshire towns included:

Bradford on Avon: supports allocating Kingston Mills for mixed-use development including 130 homes.

Melksham: supported safeguarding Bowerhill playing fields for recreation; recommended the area for expanding Melksham station be reconsidered and may be enlarged to provide an adequate bus/rail interchange; suggests no area should be safeguarded for an eastern town bypass as proposals not sufficiently advanced.

Trowbridge: supports deletion of third secondary school site at Paxcroft Mead, but recommends the site is not allocated for housing at this stage; supported the allocation of land at Halfway Cottage (area H8 of Paxcroft Mead) for housing despite strong objections by campaigners.

Westbury: recommended housing numbers at Leigh Park be increased to 1,030 houses, but supports retaining an open gap between the development and the western distributor road.

Warminster: recommended the rural buffer be replaced with firm town boundaries, to protect the area between the town and bypass from redevelopment; recommended the councils reconsider the inclusion of the Heytesbury to Codford improvement.