THE future of Wilton’s Sheep Fair Field is being determined as the town waits with bated breath on an application to take ownership of it amid fears it could disappear under a housing development.

Wiltshire Council is looking at the eight-acre site next to Fair View Road as part of its Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA).

While it is believed the land will be protected from development due to the sheep fair being one of the Charter Fairs granted by Royal Charter in 1433, Wilton Town Council is keen to avoid any doubt and has submitted an application to take control of it under the Community Asset Transfer Policy.

Wilton Mayor Phil Matthews said: “We want to keep it as a sheep fair field and an open space and the vast majority of people in Wilton feel the same way.

“Wilton Sheep Fair is one of the Charter Fairs so if Wiltshire Council did want to build houses there, they would have to find another site within Wilton for the Sheep Fair.

“To find another site to accommodate the present fairs would I think be virtually impossible to find.

“South West Area Board supports our application but we don’t know when we will hear - rent from the [sheep] auctioneers would help us pay for its maintenance."

The SHLAA states the field has a capacity for 73 houses to be built on it which could be delivered within six to ten years.

Richard Clewer, Wiltshire Council Portfolio Holder for Housing, said: “Someone has put it forward to be considered for development but it is not part of the Wiltshire Core Strategy for lots of reasons.

“Legally we have to assess each submission and determine whether it would be sensible to build there or not.

“I don’t know how you would get round the existence of the Charter Fair - that in itself is an enormous insurmountable obstacle. I could be wrong but I don’t see how.”

A Wiltshire Council spokesman added: “The final decision of the application will be taken by the Cabinet Capital Assets Committee, once the suitability of the site for inclusion within the Wiltshire Housing Site Allocations Plan has been determined.”