A PARISH has come together to oppose a development that will increase the size of their village by more than 1,000 per cent.
Netherhampton parish councillors and villagers held a meeting to discuss the Wiltshire Councilâs draft plans for 740 new homes on Netherhampton Road on Monday.
Paul Cunningham, chairman of Netherhampton parish council (NPC) said the meeting was âa way of ensuring that everyone in Netherhampton had information about the proposed plansâ.
The meeting was attended by Wiltshire councillor for Fovant and Chalke Valley, Jose Green, city councillors Stephen Berry, Sven Hocking and Jo Broom and representatives from Quidhamptonâs parish council.
Cllr Cunningham said he believed the whole parish opposed the plans and, when asked, nobody corrected him.
One villager said the âscaleâ of the development was an issue as âit goes further than the local infrastructure can cope withâ and Cllr Cunningham agreed the plans âwerenât fair or proportionateâ.
He said the opposition wasnât a case of ânimbyismâ as NPC had been âvery constructiveâ about a separate proposal for 24 homes and business units in the village that was âin-keeping and proportionate and can be sustainedâ.
But Wiltshire Councilâs major housing plan will take the parish from 60 homes to 800 homes, which Cllr Cunningham deemed âvastly disproportionateâ.
He said the parish would âeffectively be swampedâ and âit feels to us one day closer that Netherhampton becomes part of sprawling Salisburyâ.
Councillor James Craddock, vice chairman of NPC, said although one plot was set to receive 640 homes, an assessment of the site showed it could accommodate nearly twice as many units.
Cllr Cunningham said âthe roads canât take itâ, and that in 2012 the Harnham gyratory and New Bridge Road were âalmost at capacityâ and no measures had been taken since to relieve traffic.
And the parish was unanimous in wanting to avoid âpiecemeal developmentâ, âwhere nobody quite gets round to addressing the transport or infrastructureâ.
Cllr Craddock said problems would arise because the âissue of infrastructureâ would be handed over to the developer to tackle and Wiltshire Council âwonât have to worry about the infrastructure until itâs too lateâ.
A representative from Quidhampton parish council said they would also object to the proposal on the grounds of traffic, adding: âIt was bad enough already and anything to make it worse is quite frankly unacceptable.â
Cllr Cunningham said he had âoff the recordâ discussions with planners who said âthere are no plans whatsoever to deal with roads through Salisburyâ.
The parish also raised issues of flooding and drainage, and said previous plans for developments on the same site had been turned down for those reasons.
One woman said it felt like âWiltshire Council wants to pass the buckâ, which Cllr Green said was âa valid pointâ, and agreed there should be provisions in place for infrastructure before planning permission was agreed.
Cllr Cunningham said: âThe most important thing is that as many people as possible register their views. Thereâs no substitute for the weight of numbers.â
He said afterwards: âAmong residents there is no trust that Wiltshire Council will properly assess and address the massive impact of these large developments and there is very considerable appetite for action to ensure the council pays proper attention to the justified concerns of local people.â
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