PROTESTERS gathered at Southwick today (Saturday) to call on the government to block plans to build 180 new homes and a new access road on Southwick Court Fields.

The fields are used by dog walkers and by people going for exercise in the countryside near their home.

Wiltshire councillor David Vigar said: “This gave people who don’t want the Southwick Court Fields to be built on a chance to come out and show they value the green space.

“There is a plan to build 180 houses and a 500-metre access road from Frome Road over the fields.

“The government will be asked to block plans to build on Southwick Court Fields if objections from official bodies are not met before the plan is put before Wiltshire Council for decision.”

Debbie Vaughan, who joined the protest along with other locals, said: "These fields are absolutely vital for me. I depend on them mentally, physically and financially.

"I suffer from fibromyalgia, and am a professional dog walker. I use the fields every day and have been walking there for more than 20 years.

"It has been life-changing for me. Without the fields, my life would be much worse off," said Ms Vaughan, 58, of Summerdown Walk.

Currently, the plans are still subject to objections or questions from organisations including the Environment Agency, Natural England and Wiltshire’s own Archaeology, Ecology, Urban Design and Drainage teams.

If Wiltshire Council tables the plan for decision before these are resolved, two local councillors plan to ask the Government’s Housing Minister Robert Jenrick MP to step in.

Trowbridge town councillor Graham Hill said: “There seems to be a great deal of concern among planners that rejection of these applications would be an embarrassment for Wiltshire Council.

“It seems a shame that this fear of possible ridicule should be driving the project and not a recognition of the undeniable genuine barriers which have still to be properly addressed. A viable plan has yet to be presented.”

Cllr Vigar added: “Professionals are asking big questions about this and they need answers.”

Both councillors are also continuing to monitor plans for a 50-home estate at Upper Studley and a 55-home development south of Church Lane.

The Environment Agency is demanding more detail on measures to prevent flooding, especially around the access road from Frome Road. It says it wants to see computer modelling of the impact of the road.

Wiltshire Council’s own drainage team is asking for “a proper drainage plan”. It needed to point out in its response that the ponds planned to hold excess water cannot be on a slope and “water cannot naturally flow uphill”.

Several bodies are demanding a ‘masterplan’ for the three sites at Southwick Court Fields, Upper Studley and Church Lane. The government inspector who reviewed Wiltshire’s plans said the three should “take account of each other” in heritage, landscape, biodiversity and access.

Natural England, the government’s adviser on the natural environment, said in June that it will object to the plan if there is no masterplan for all three sites.

There has also been no response to the Wiltshire archaeology team’s request for an exploratory trench over four per cent of the plan area to see if any important historical remains are present.

They also asked for “a ground penetrating radar survey in the far south east corner of the site “where a possible sub surface structure has been identified from aerial photography.”