OPPOSITION towards plans to build houses on a piece of land in Corsham has gathered pace after nearly 200 residents attended a consultation with developers last week.

Residents in the Brook Drive area of the town were invited to look at plans to build 55 homes between the housing estate and Ladbrook Lane.

The outline application by Acorn Property Group, which has not yet been submitted to Wiltshire Council, proposes to demolish six existing houses to create the space for the development which will have three access points.

The development is known as Peacock Grove.

Alex Fogwill, of Brook Drive who has lived on the estate for 15 years, said the development poses several concerns to residents with over 160 people attending a consultation at the Springfield Campus last week.

“It is a big development for us because it is destroying the characteristic of the quiet estate we have and that is what I feel strongly about,” he said.

“We understand the drive and need for housing but we feel it has been achieved in Corsham with other developments in the pipeline.

“There is a lot of hostility in the area at the moment towards the plans and we want to make sure people are aware of what they need to do to have their views made clear.”

Residents first cottoned onto the plans 12 months ago which will also see an open play space incorporated into the woodland as well as retaining the existing woodland between the site and Brook Drive as a wildlife corridor.

Another resident, who didn’t wish to be named, added: “There were a lot of residents there and the anger in the room was palpable – you could feel it. People are annoyed and angered because of the type of development they are proposing is so inappropriate.

“There is a huge amount of anger and support for opposition on the estate. We must have nearly 400 houses and almost every person will be affected by the traffic flow and general congestion from the development.”

Although the application has not been formally submitted to Wiltshire Council, developers Acorn will be taking on board the comments they received at the consultation.

Wayne Gold, Director at GolDev, who is leading the development proposals for the site said: “Community engagement is a key part of the planning process and is something we take very seriously.

“Our intention with Peacock Grove is to reduce as many of the impacts as possible for nearby residents. We have deliberately positioned the new buildings away from site neighbours and the boundaries will be very heavily vegetated. A full transport assessment will also be submitted as part of our planning application which will assess the capacity of local infrastructure. We are confident we can create a low impact scheme that respects the site and helps to address local housing need, and the input of local people will help to make our proposals even better.”