A plan to build up to 25 houses on a field on the edge of Great Cheverell has been refused by Wiltshire Council – to the delight of residents.

Gladman Developments applied for outline permission to build homes on land off Garston Lane on the eastern side of Great Cheverell.

The site is outside the limits of development of the village but Gladman said it should be considered as Wiltshire Council does not have a five-year supply of housing land.

But planning officers refused it under delegated powers.

Wiltshire Council received 45 letters of objection to the plan and one letter of support. The council’s highway officers and landscape officer objected, as did the parish council.

Wiltshire Council planning officer Ruaridh O’Donoghue said the location of the proposed houses would result in increased car use as the village bus services were limited and the access road to the site was a narrow country lane and part of it had no footpath.

He said Great Cheverell, with a population of 600, was not able to cater for 25 more houses.

He said: “It is, therefore, contrary to the aims and objectives of the National Planning Policy Framework where the presumption is in favour of sustainable development only. Furthermore, it seems unlikely that Great Cheverell will be considered for anything more than limited housing growth once the Wiltshire Core Strategy is adopted.

“Employment opportunities are very limited within the village and therefore this would lead to a high degree of commuting.”

Lynda Wearn, chairman of Great Cheverell Parish Council, said: “We were pleasantly surprised that the planning officers at Wiltshire Council responded so strongly.

“We felt that they had really thought about the implications of such a development in our village. The vast majority of people in the village were against it.

“I think a proportion of the village are not against some small development because we want to keep the village alive, but it would have to be carefully considered.”