PLANS for a residential development just outside of the Malmesbury were unveiled to the public this week.

Persimmon Homes held a public consultation at Malmesbury Town Hall on Tuesday, outlining their plans to obtain planning permission to build approximately 230 homes at Backbridge Farm.

The 27.5 acre site, which is now allocated for housing within the Malmesbury Neighbourhood Plan, lies just under one kilometre north of Malmesbury town centre and will back on to the Dyson factory car park, with a buffer of plants and hedges in between.

It has been designed around preserving views toward Malmesbury Abbey.

Public views were mixed at the consultation as planners and architects tried to alleviate local residents’ concerns.

Michael Lynch, who lives down the road from the proposed site, had some reservations about the plans.

“To me it seems like there are too many houses in a small space,” he said. “It looks very dense.

“I’m not too happy it being in the river valley as it is fairly unspoiled on that side, however Dyson have already expanded there.”

Roger Griffin was more positive about the plans. He said: “It is a very dense development however in some ways that’s a good thing as it means less land will be used.

“The plans all sound quite good and look quite attractive, but the proof will be in the pudding.

“I like how they’ve tried to preserve views of the Abbey. That is an important thing to maintain.”

Persimmon Homes will evaluate the feedback they received from the unveiling of the proposals and look again at the plans before submitting final planning permission.

They then plan to submit a revised scheme to Wiltshire Council in August.