A PARCEL of land between Semington and Bowerhill is to be sold by West Wiltshire District Council to Wiltshire County Council to make way for a section of the Semington-Melksham diversion.
The land forms part of Shails Lane, which runs between Semington and the Christie Miller Centre on the Bowerhill estate in Melksham.
The four-mile long, £9m bypass was given planning permission in July. The new road will take around 18,000 vehicles a day away from the main village of Semington, Berryfield and Little Marsh.
Peter Binley, principal highways engineer for Wiltshire County Council, said compulsory purchase orders for other areas of land were being finalised and would be published by mid-December. Public consultation will follow.
The county council is expecting the bypass to be the subject of a lengthy public inquiry.
"If everything goes smoothly we could be looking at starting the project in a year or so, but with a public inquiry it could be longer than that," said Mr Binley.
The county is still awaiting confirmation of a bid for Government cash for the project. "We would be surprised if our bid was turned down. The county is optimistic," said Mr Binley.
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