Villagers in Holt have criticised plans to build up to 98 homes on land off Melksham Road, saying it will extend the village and risk it losing its character and charm.

Gladman Developments wrote to Holt Parish Council in December outlining its original plan to build 110 homes on the field opposite Great Parks, at the edge of the village, on fields currently part of the West Wiltshire Equestrian Centre.

A consultation leaflet was also distributed to 475 homes and businesses. The outline application was submitted to Wiltshire Council on Tuesday.

Chris Crawford, who lives on Melksham Road, said if plans were approved, the village would never be the same again. He said: “When I was a kid, Holt was a little village and it has obviously developed with time. The problem with this proposal is that it will lose its village charm.

“Developing the site will see more trucks, more mud and more cars on the road which means more danger.”

Aubrey Winter, 85, also of Melksham Road, also disagrees with Gladman’s proposals. He said: “To build 98 homes is a big development in itself and it is too big for Holt, particularly on a field which is a lovely site on its own. It will decimate the countryside.”

Gladman’s leaflet said that the proposal will include up to 40 per cent affordable homes, and admitted that there is “limited or no capacity at Holt Primary School to accommodate the expected number of children who would be living on the completed development”.

This week the school on The Gravel itself applied for planning permission for a single-storey two classroom extension, with group room and servery, to provide more room for its current pupils.

Holt villagers are also involved in a consultation over proposals to build 80 homes on the old Tannery site in The Midlands. The parish council’s planning committee last Thursday heard this two-year consultation process is expected to be completed by the end of February.

Wiltshire Cllr Trevor Carbin, who represents the village, said: “The feedback I’ve received is that people are 100 per cent against the Gladman development.”

Cllr Carbin plans to ask for the application to be called in, so it is decided by Wiltshire councillors rather than officers