Some history:
Perhaps many will be surprised to know that the Moulden View development (250 houses) of some years ago is in our parish. If you drive from Casa Paolo towards the Orbital, then Moulden View is on the righthand side. Swindon Borough Council, Wiltshire Council, Purton Parish Council, Unitary Councillor, local MPs, and local groups were all against this development. It went through on appeal first for 200 houses and then for the final 50 houses. Part of the “deal” for the final 50 houses which would destroy a County Wildlife Site was that the calcareous grassland being destroyed would be “offset” by the development of a similar habitat elsewhere. To date, not one blade of “new” grassland has ever been grown. That was years ago….
Fast forward to the present:
Across the road from Moulden View a proposed development to build 81 houses was turned down some while ago. As usual, the developer is coming back with an appeal.
Although no date has yet been set for the Inquiry, the deadline for comments is 26 July 2018.
It is not hard to envisage that if this development goes ahead it will be another field that brings Purton and Swindon closer together, ultimately it will bring coalescence between the parish and Swindon (as it did with Hayden Wick many years ago).
We need to write with our concerns to the Planning Inspectorate, Room 3/10b Kite Wing, 2 The Square, Temple Quay House, Bristol BS1 6PN, quoting the Inspectorate reference (APP/Y3940/W/18/3202551). They want hard copies in triplicate. Fortunately, the Shaw Residents’ Association has a link by which to submit comments easily, without wasting paper. The site also has further information.
The main point to make is that the proposal is outside of both Swindon and Wiltshire’s local plans and does not form part of our Purton Neighbourhood Plan. Our Neighbourhood Plan is within weeks of coming out for referendum so carries weight. If this Appeal is granted then it wastes years of work on the neighbourhood plan and has wasted the time of all those residents who have been doing things the right way, by following Government and local authority processes to get better planning in our parish.
Please go to the link on the Shaw Residents’ Association and submit your comments before Thursday this week (26 July 2017). There is no need to login or register on the Planning Inspectorate site, simply type in 3202551 into the Search Box (the whole process takes less than a couple of minutes).
