SOME of the housing developments planned for the county might not count towards Wiltshire Council’s five-year housing supply, it has emerged.

The startling revelation came after Westbury councillor Francis Morland asked Wiltshire Council if houses built on greenfield land were included in the supply and was told that only houses on brownfield sites count towards the annual figure.

This means that if the 200 houses plotted for the Hilperton Gap are approved they will not be taken into account in the council’s annual housing figure.

The answer was revealed at a Wiltshire Council planning meeting on Wednesday, November 23.

Cllr Ernie Clark, who was at the meeting, said: “I was totally gobsmacked when it came to light, it’s absolutely appalling.

“It’s now a self-perpetuating problem which seemingly will never go away.

“It’s truly madness. I have had concerns over the way in which spatial planning at Wiltshire Council functions for a long time and this highlights those concerns.”

Wiltshire Council’s response to Cllr Morland’s query states: “The majority of greenfield sites are outside settlement boundaries and such sites that are not allocated in the Wiltshire Core Strategy or in a neighbourhood plan are thus contrary to local policy.

“As such it would be unusual to declare that we partially depend on sites that are contrary to policy to come forward in the future. However we acknowledge that greenfield sites have in the past made a contribution to delivery.”

Cllr Francis Morland said: “This has consequences all over Wiltshire and the ramifications will be widespread, from Cricklade to Chitterne.

“Housing developments such as the proposed one just off Boreham Road in Warminster would not fall within the supply, like how the Hilperton Gap wouldn’t. There are many examples.

“I have been trying to get to the bottom of this for a long time and now that I know the answer I just think it’s weird.”