I WAS shocked, appalled and angry to learn of Frampton’s plans to build 210 houses in the Hilperton Gap.

How can this have been allowed to happen when the Wiltshire Housing Site Allocations Development Plan document hasn’t yet gone through its full process and been approved?

Any such development proposals at this stage are premature and show a complete contempt for the “democratic” planning process and to all those people who objected to this land being proposed for housing in last year’s public consultation.

The Hilperton Relief Road was built to take traffic away from housing. Where is the logic in putting housing next to the new road?

I’m also concerned about the proposed access. How safe will it be for drivers to emerge from a housing estate straight onto a 50mph road? Vehicles on Elizabeth Way stopping to turn right into any new development will cause traffic hold ups, which could encourage drivers to return to using the old route through the village.

The Hilperton Gap is greatly valued by local residents as a vital green lung for NE Trowbridge and the open space that preserves the two communities of Trowbridge town and Hilperton village. Both Trowbridge Town Council and Hilperton Parish Council have passed resolutions that they are against any development in the Gap.

The area in question is marshy and prone to flooding. Any development will greatly increase the flood risk to the existing properties in Wyke Road. It will also forever banish the kingfisher that regularly hunts in the brook there.

Alison Hoskins (Mrs), St Mary’s Close , Hilperton Marsh