THE future of Chippenham's key town centre site will be decided at a planning inquiry on August 20.

The Flowers family, which used to run a scrapyard on the four-acre site, wants to develop up to 80 houses with shops and offices and leisure on the land off Gladstone Road.

North Wiltshire District Council had given outline planning approval for the scheme but the two sides could not agree on the detailed plan.

They failed to reach an agreement on the number of affordable homes to be built on the site.

Now the outcome has been taken out of the hands of the council and placed before an inspector appointed by the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions.

Chippenham Town Council leader Coun Sandie Webb will attend the inquiry with planning committee chairman Coun Ross Henning to press the town council's case.

"We were disappointed with the application anyway," she said. "We had a chance for some retail development in the area. It's a key site and we should not be seeing more housing there."

The Flower family lodged an appeal in March after months of negotiation with the district council about the future of the scrapyard site reached deadlock.

The district council wanted to see 30 per cent of the site devoted to affordable housing on the site but the developer argued it would find it difficult to make the development profitable because of the issues.

The outline application proposes to build up to 80 houses on the site, with a small portion close to Gladstone Road made available for other uses.

"It's a hugely important site," said district councillor Philip Allnatt.

"I have been arguing for eight years that we should adopt a comprehensive approach to planning this area. You can't take one piece of the jigsaw puzzle in isolation. It would be wrong to have all housing we desperately need more car parking and more good quality retail and leisure facilities. And we need to make more use of the river frontage."

A previous plan for a superstore on the site was withdrawn after strong opposition. The later scheme proposed housing, shops, offices and leisure uses for the prime town centre site.

But Chippenham Town Council feared the area could have too much new housing when the town needed shops and entertainment venues instead.

Town councillors wanted to see strong retail development, with leisure facilities such as a new cinema, a ten-pin bowling alley and a fitness centre, to encourage people into the town centre in the early evening and improve the atmosphere of the area.

The Flowers site is one piece in a patchwork of possible development sites stretching from the police station in Wood Lane, down to the River Avon and the Hygrade factory.

North Wiltshire District Council drew up a development brief in 2000 to create an overview for the future of the area, to use as a guide when applications are submitted.

A public consultation revealed many people wanted leisure and shopping facilities in the area, as well as environmental improvements in the area fronting the river.

The inquiry is expected to take two days. It will begin at 10am at the council offices in Monkton Park. Members of the public may attend the inquiry and give their views on the development. Anyone wishing to contribute must attend on the first day at 10am to register their name and address.

Evidence for the inquiry will be exchanged four weeks before, when the papers will be available for viewing.

Sue Nash, of the Planning Inspectorate, said a decision would probably be made within seven weeks of the inquiry, though the inspector would give an indication of the time he would need.