Deadline to Object to the Threat to the Birds’ Marsh area of Chippenham

wilts | local government | news report Monday December 28, 2009 20:58 by Liz e2windsor at hotmail dot com

Time is running out as consultation period ends on New Year's Eve

Close of consultation period nears for objections to the destruction of countryside in Chippenham's Birds' Marsh area. 'Preferred option' includes plans for a major road and 800 houses.

Wiltshire Council’s development proposals, as set out in consultation document ‘Wiltshire 2026 - Planning for Wiltshire’s Future’, include a ‘preferred option’ that threatens to destroy the popular Birds’ Marsh area to the north of the Chippenham. The deadline to voice your objections to the destruction is 5pm on the 31st December 2009. Plans to build in this much-loved area of countryside have already been thrown out due to local opposition on three occasions! The development would include the construction of a main road and 800 homes. This urban sprawl would destroy agricultural land, field boundary hedgerows with aged oak trees and concrete over the foraging area for the wildlife of Birds’ Marsh Wood, the southern part of which will be fringed by the development. This would set a dangerous precedent for expanding into the green belt and cause local people to lose one of the few areas that have recreational access. The area is attractive to a regional housing consortium because it would suit commuters to access the motorway and drive to Swindon, Bath and Bristol, while contributing nothing to the alleviation of real housing needs.

Please see the Friends of Birds’ Marsh website for details on how to object.