FURIOUS families campaigning against scores of homes being built on an old allotment site in Calne are to try for a judicial review to overturn the scheme.

They claim North Wiltshire District Council betrayed them when it approved plans to develop Calne's former allotment site in Newcroft, without consulting them.

The council approved plans to build 121 houses, 17 homes for housing associations and 26 allotments at a meeting on March 12.

The outraged residents from houses backing on to the derelict site say they received no proper notification from the district council about the plans.

They claim the district council misled them, provided them with the wrong information, and that it was impossible to reach planning officers to discuss the development.

Now residents from Lickhill Road, Ridgemead and Dixon Way are vowing to fight the council tooth and nail and are campaigning for a judicial review to overturn the district council's decision. Eleanor Bland, 47, of Lickhill Road, said: "We've been robbed of our green space, our quiet peaceful area and our privacy.

"When all the allotments were there in full working order it was like a lovely Sunday afternoon every day.

"We moved into a rural area with lovely local shops, but now it's akin to living in London. It's just houses, with nowhere for kids to go. Everywhere you look there are buildings."

Residents fear the new buildings will overshadow their gardens and homes, and take away the green space provided by the allotment site and their views of the Downs.

They are concerned there is not enough infrastructure in the town to deal with a large influx of people and the development will lead to traffic congestion and rat runs in the roads around Newcroft.

Mrs Bland said: "Our rights as tax payers have been completely ignored. If this is progress the council can keep it.

"But we're concerned that the allotment holders understand we don't want to upset them, we're all for them and it was such a sad day when they left."

The residents say properties adjoining Newcroft received no letters of notification about the plans.

They feel the plans were railroaded through the district council and they have addressed their concerns to the Local Government Ombudsman.

They say planning application notices outlining the development were displayed on telephone poles in the streets next to Newcroft.

The final notice to be displayed was amended to include fewer houses and stated that comments about the development plans must be submitted to the district council by March 13.

But the date of the meeting to discuss the plans' approval was on March 12, the day before the deadline.

At the meeting the amended planning application did not feature and the original plans were discussed and approved, they claim.

Mother-of-two Margaret Britten, of Lickhill Road, said: "When you're walking up the road holding two children's hands, you're not looking for posters, so I don't feel that's adequate notification.

"Planners at North Wiltshire say it's not normal in cases like this to inform everyone because it would be too costly."

Mrs Bland said residents have 12 weeks to set up a case for a judicial review and have approached local MP Michael Ancram and set up a petition.

She said more than 100 have signed the petition, which outlines the residents' main objections, including lack of notification and consultation over the plans.

Mrs Bland said residents are seeking a deferment of the development so they can be approached and plans discussed. They say they also want a public apology from the district council for lack of notification and its misleading actions.

A spokesman for the district council said it had advertised the proposals and their amendments following its normal procedures, which were in accordance with Government guidelines.

adavey@newswilts.co.uk