Open letter to the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat Groups on Swindon Borough Council
RECENTLY Wroughton Parish Council wrote to the leaders of your political groups offering what we hoped would become a focus for consensus on the issue of greenfield development which, while enabling the Wiltshire Structure Plan to be endorsed, would retain essential Government guidance on sequential development (brownfield before greenfield).
While we have yet to receive a reply from any borough councillor, Government targets for new housing development have been increased to at least 60 per cent to be built on brownfield sites. If this policy guidance was to be implemented in Swindon there would be no need to develop any greenfield site until 2011 at least.
We continue to urge Swindon Council to comply with national policy guidelines and to undertake an urban capacity survey on the availability of brownfield sites. Considerations of possible financial gain from the sale of council-owned land are obviously and necessarily irrelevant to the planning process.
Councillors FRANCIS HOBBS, ANN RICHARDS, JOHN NEWMAN
Wroughton Parish Council
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article