TROWBRIDGE Town Council has submitted its comments to Wiltshire Council on plans to build 270 new homes at Elm Grove after objecting to the scheme last week.

Local developer, Coulston Estates Ltd, wants to build the new homes on 41.7 acres just off the A363 Bradley Road.

The company plans to build a spine road off Wiltshire Drive which would form the main access route into the proposed new estate.

It has been unable to buy land from the owner of Plot 4 on the A363 Bradley Road to provide an alternative access route to the south.

Local residents have complained this would lead to a huge cul-de-sac and say Coulston Estates should provide an alternative access route.

They voiced concerns about increased traffic on the Bradley Road, Wiltshire Drive and Silver Street Lane, further queuing and congestion.

At a Trowbridge town development committee meeting last week, councillors objected to Coulston's outline planning application, even though the council supports the site allocation for housing.

Committee chairman Cllr Geoff Whiffen said Silver Street Lane was already being used as a rat run.

Cllr Andrew Bryant, who has called in the planning application for councillors to decide, urged the committee to object to the scheme.

He said residents on Wiltshire Drive faced the prospect of heavy construction traffic coming past their homes for the five years it will take to build the new homes.

He added: "It is wholly unacceptable. Traffic down Wiltshire Drive has been fairly horrific over the past year."

The council's main objection is that Coulston is not able to secure a through route access to the A363 near the White Horse Business Park as part of the application.

Councillors said the alternative access from the Bradley Road and Wiltshire Drive junction is "clearly unacceptable."

They want Wiltshire Council to include conditions as part of any approval for the application.

These would cover the provision of cycle routes through the proposed development, changes to the Silver Street Lane junction with the Bradley Road, and a mixed cycle and pedestrian route from the Bradley Road to Drynham railway bridge.

They would like Coulston Estates to provide a dedicated cycle route from Southview Farm to the White Horse Business Park to link to a new route from Southview Park, particularly to the north of Wiltshire Drive.

They also want traffic calming on Wiltshire Drive at the same time as the opening of a new through route so they have the same speed restriction.

They say this should include traffic lights at the junction of Wiltshire Drive and Bradley Road with timings to improve traffic flows on the A363.