Tension high during debate on green site

The main topic of the inquiry last week was Quakers Walk in Devizes, a footpath which links the north eastern edge of Devizes with Roundway.

Kennet District Council has earmarked the green fields to the east of Quakers Walk as a site where 300 houses and a primary school can be built.

But residents and others have objected, saying the tranquil beauty of the site would be destroyed if housing was allowed.

The Quakers Walk site backs on to the headquarters of Wiltshire Police and the force's helicopter pad.

Peter King, a member of Roundway Parish Council, said existing residents living near to police headquarters were disturbed by the noise from the helicopter.

Fiona Hornby, representing the Kennet group of the Council for the Protection of Rural England, talked about the impact the helicopter noise would have on the proposed new school.

She said that the helicopter was used more than 1,500 times a year, which amounted to eight or nine uses a day.

"That would be one interference per lesson. I don't think that is good news for children," she said.

The district council told the inquiry, being held at the Corn Exchange in Devizes, that the level of noise from the helicopter needed to be taken into account, but said the level was not significant enough to prevent houses from being built there.

Ms Hornby said the CPRE favoured houses being built on brownfield sites before greenfield ones such as Quakers Walk.

Ed White, Kennet Council's local plans officer, said Quakers Walk could not be developed last year because there was uncertainty over the timing of housing being built on brownfield sites in Devizes, such as Devizes Wharf, the Northgate and Le Marchant Barracks.

Devizes-based building contractor Gaiger Brothers also appealed against housing being built.

In his proof of evidence to the inquiry, planning consultant Andrew Miles, of Gaigers, said: "Housing on the land between Quakers Walk and London Road would, in my opinion, harmfully impact upon the character and appearance of the town."

Jennie Harrison, a Roundway parish councillor, summed up many objectors' feelings when she said: "Quakers Walk has the potential to be the jewel in Kennet District Council's crown. They are losing the opportunity to keep this green lung."

Mr White, for Kennet council, said it was proposed that 60 per cent of the Quakers Walk site would have housing on, while the remainder would have roads, landscaping and public open space.

He said the council had no intention of allowing Quakers Walk itself to be used by buses or cars and said it would remain for the use of pedestrians and cyclists.

He could not say at this stage how wide the buffer would be separating Quakers Walk footpath from the housing development.

More homes are proposed

THOSE objecting to proposals for 300 houses to be built on land to the east of Quakers Walk will be horrified to hear that the owners of the land want to build more than 400 homes on it.

The Society of Merchant Venturers, a trustee of the St Monica Charity, will be arguing its case at the public inquiry on April 4.

In proof of evidence submitted to the public inquiry, Sean Silk, a partner with chartered surveyor Carter Jonas, representing The Society of Merchant Venturers, says the 300 houses proposed for the site is too few.

The report said: 'Three hundred dwellings as currently draft allocated would not make best and most efficient use of the land available and would therefore not be compliant with central Government guidance.

'If a sense of place and community is to be created this is more likely to be achievable through a higher number of units created in a close, well-designed urban form.'

Mr Silk says he suggests housing be built in phases at the Quakers Walk site, with two phases of 150 houses being built followed by a third phase of 120 houses.

The Society of Merchant Venturers has also objected to the proposed new primary school being built on the site and calls on Wiltshire Education Authority to justify the need for a school.