Alderbury is battling to retain its identity (From Salisbury Journal)

Alderbury is battling to retain its identity

8:32am Saturday 29th September 2007

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ALARM bells have been sounded over an emerging new council structure plan which residents at Alderbury have been warned could swamp their village with development and turn it into a suburb of Salisbury.

"There is very real anxiety and anger in the village," said one of Alderbury's district councillors, Richard Britton.

In one part of consultation documents being used by Salisbury District Council to prepare a new structure plan for South Wiltshire - Salisbury and South Wiltshire: Our place in the future - Alderbury is referred to as a "Main Village", which might experience "modest growth."

However, in another of the documents, the development of Alderbury is discussed as part of the planned growth of Salisbury, and suggests more far-reaching development - "an extension of Alderbury on land between the A36 by-pass and the village." And papers contain a map outlining the entire area between Alderbury and the A36 as far north as Clarendon and Petersfinger - in effect joining Alderbury with Salisbury.

The majority of respondents to an opinion survey carried out by Alderbury Parish Council for the preparation of the Alderbury and Whaddon Parish Plan accepted that some further growth of Alderbury was inevitable and would bring with it some benefits.

But there was almost unanimous and emphatic agreement that the two communities should retain a village "feel"' and not become suburbanised.

Councillor Britton, who is a former leader of Salisbury district council, said: "It is clear from the Parish Plan opinion survey responses that even those residents who accepted the need for growth of the village are strongly opposed to suburbanisation."

Chairman of the parish council, Adrian Jackson, said: "We are distributing an alert to all residents urging them to obtain copies of the consultation documents, and to complete and return the questionnaire to Forward Planning at Wyndham Road in Salisbury as soon as they possibly can.

"The parish council is stressing the urgency since planners will only consider responses received before October 5. This is a very short consultation period for such serious issues about which residents feel very strongly indeed."

Councillor Britton added: "It is disappointing half the period was lost because of the summer holidays, and another week was lost while a reprint was arranged because so few were printed initially."

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