TOWNSPEOPLE will make one last bid to save the greenfield land next to Quakers Walk in Devizes from housing development.

The land to the east of Quakers Walk has been allocated by Kennet District Council in the replacement Kennet District Local Plan as a site where 300 houses and a new primary site can be built.

Objections to the proposal were heard in March by the inspector presiding over the Local Plan inquiry.

The Local Plan inquiry is being reconvened on Wednesday and objectors will be able to voice their concerns about the proposed access to the site.

A new road is planned from London Road, past the new joint control room at Wiltshire Police headquarters into the Quakers Walk site.

A second access road is also planned from Roundway Park.

Kennet Council's original proposal was that the second access road be used only for emergency services vehicles but it is now proposing that buses use it.

The route that buses would take would be from London Road along the new access road into the site and out into Roundway Park.

The council proposes that a bus gate be installed in Roundway Park to stop cars using it from the Quakers Walk site. Wiltshire County Council proposed that the access could be provided over part of the Quakers Walk path but Kennet Council has rejected this.

Kennet is also proposing to increase the density of the houses from 30 per hectare to 35.

The Society of Merchant Venturers, which owns the Quakers Walk site, is proposing more than 400 houses, but no-one from the society will be speaking at the inquiry. In a statement, Sean Silk on behalf of the landowners says the Quakers Walk site is the most sustainable and appropriate location for greenfield development in Devizes. He says the site provides the greater opportunity for people to use modes of travel other than by car. The inquiry is at 10am at the Corn Exchange, Devizes.