ONE of the housing developers that took part in secret meetings with Malmesbury Town Council has submitted plans for a housing development on the edge of the town.

Speaking at a packed Annual Electors Meeting this week, Cllr Ray Sanderson, chairman of the town planning committee revealed that White Lion Land had applied for outline planning permission for 77 houses, a community building and 2.2hectares of public open space for land at Park Road.

Ray Sanderson told the meeting: “Against the wishes of the four of us who met those developers one of them has submitted an outline planning application for land at Park Road. We have strongly asked them to withdraw it.”

He said the planning application would be in the “public domain as soon as possible”.

“We will fight it and no doubt the community of Malmesbury will be on our side,” he added saying public comments would be invited and that residents would show the strength of opposition at any planning meetings.

The town council has already written to White Lion Land condemning the move.

An email from deputy town clerk Phil Rice said the working group that had conducted the closed-door meetings would recommend the town council and local community strongly oppose the plans as it fell outside the town boundary as far as the North Wiltshire Local Plan 2011 policy was concerned.

He reminded the company that it had been urged to apply to Wiltshire Council to have the land included in the future planning blueprint.

He continued: “As you were told at our meeting we feel the town cannot cope with a development like this without considerable infrastructure enhancements, particularly in primary education and utilities.”

Asking the company to withdraw the application he warned: “Provocative action will surely prejudice any future dealings with your company.”

Cllr Charles Vernon raised concerns that the application could encourage the other developers that had met with the town council’s working party to also submit plans for other parts of the town.

The meeting was a chance for electors to quiz the town council on its actions over the past 12 months and the issue of secret meetings was a hot topic forcing Mayor Patrick Goldstone to apologise.

“The town council made a cock-up. We did it for the best possible reason,” he said and eluding to a loss of public confidence added: “It was a public relations disaster.”