AN APPEAL to allow up to 70 houses to be built near Cricklade has been thrown out by the planning inspectorate after a year-long battle.

Plans were originally submitted in December 2013 and refused by Wiltshire Council in May 2014 after almost 40 residents turned up at a planning meeting to object.

The application to build the houses on two green fields south of the town on the B4353 was thrown out by the inspector, Stephen Brown, due to conflicts with the Wiltshire Council Core Strategy and because of the impact it would have on the surrounding countryside.

Mr Brown cited the likelihood that people moving into the new houses would commute to work in Swindon as a reason for his refusal, stating that it went against guidance that market towns should be relatively contained in terms of development.

The decision noted that plans for dealing with traffic and flooding at the site were well put together but that these did not outweigh the damage that would be done to the area by the introduction of so many houses on a green field site.

Cricklade Town Council released a statement reacting to the decision, saying that it was potentially the biggest housing decision for the town in 25 years.

They wrote: “In our initial consultation response in January 2014 we described the proposal as ‘premature, misconceived and not in the interest of the residents of the town’ and so we are pleased to note that the Planning Inspector has now dismissed the appeal the developer made after the initial planning application was refused.

“The developer’s appeal rested primarily on a technical, but highly important, dispute over the availability of a five year supply of land in the wider Housing Market Area which covers the whole of North and West Wiltshire, and so was not directly related to the needs of Cricklade.

“It was clear at an early stage that these development proposals produced no benefit to either the residents living near the development site or for the community more widely.

“The public consultation carried out by the developer was cursory as it appeared that the responses from the public were simply not taken seriously.”

A spokesman for the town council added that a working party of councillors and members of the public was working together to help produce a neighbourhood plan for the area.

This plan could become a legal document if Cricklade residents vote in favour of it when it is complete and it could shape development in Cricklade for years to come.

To find out more about the Cricklade Neighbourhood Plan visit crickladenp.org.uk