MORE than 600 letters have been sent to North Wiltshire District Council to object against plans to build 90 houses and shops on 20 acres of greenfield land in the middle of Minety.

Villager Lesley Cowley, leader of the Friends of Minety protest group, said the bulk of the letters were written by Minety residents, but also included objections from the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England, Minety Parish Council and Wiltshire Wildlife Trust.

The Friends of Minety group was set up to fight plans by landowner Stuart Crook and planning consultant Nigel Whitehead to develop farmland behind Minety Primary School.

Plans submitted to the district council include proposals to build a new school next to the railway line along with houses and shops centred around a village square on the junction of Sawyers Hill and Silver Street.

Villagers are hoping that the voracity of their opposition will convince district councillors to refuse permission for the development when it is debated at a development control meeting later this month or early next year.

Mrs Cowley said: "We are confident the application will be refused by councillors, who must surely take account of the strength of public opinion against the application.

"I fail to understand why, in the face of such overwhelming opposition, the developer has yet to get the message that his plans are not welcome here."

Villagers are concerned the plans will increase traffic and sewerage problems, and could set a precedent for future development that would lead to the urbanisation of the village.

Mrs Cowley said Wiltshire Wildlife Trust had objected to the plans because the farmland was considered an area of designated nature conservation interest.

She said: "The land is more than just a muddy field."

She also said Minety School's board of governors had unanimously voted against the plans, and had decided to improve the school on its existing site.

Minety Parish Council chairman David Brown said: "The governors have come up with plans to extend the office and install a new mobile classroom. Although they were not planned with this in mind, carrying out these improvements might thwart the developers' plans for housing on the site."

North Wiltshire MP James Gray welcomed the strength of the protest.

"I hope these insensitive developers will now realise that they are wasting their time," he said.