THE heart, soul and identity of North Bradley will be torn to pieces if plans to build hundreds of houses on green spaces that separate the village from Trowbridge are approved, says a local councillor.

Cllr Horace Prickett has slammed Wiltshire Council for even entertaining the notion that a further 200 houses should be built at Elm Grove Farm off Drynham Lane.

As more than 3,000 homes will be built in North Bradley, West Ashton and the surrounding areas as part of the authority’s core strategy, Cllr Pricket says it is unacceptable that more houses should be built there, which would subsume the village into Trowbridge.

“It will destroy the one green spot between North Bradley and Trowbridge which is the last thing locals want – this is the biggest issue we have faced in years and years,” he said.

“People looking to live in the countryside will have that taken from them and replaced with a housing estate.

“We love being our own separate village away from Trowbridge. We do not want that to change but if these plans go through that will tear apart the identity of North Bradley and that cannot be allowed to happen.

“If you talk to anyone in this village of around 800 homes, you will struggle to find anyone who is for this. Residents are angry and worried about joining the urban sprawl that is Trowbridge.

“Too often people’s concerns are overlooked by developers and that is why we are taking action to try and stop it. We have handed in our petition to Wiltshire Council, which has attracted a lot of support, and hopefully it will work and positive change can happen.”

Following Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, the proposals will then be discussed at a full council meeting on July 11 and then until September, residents can put forward their views on the matter.

Although more houses are earmarked to be built in North Bradley, Cllr Prickett is quietly confident that the Drynham Lane proposal and the 150 houses allocated for the nearby White Horse Business Park will be rejected.

“I am actually quite confident as far as North Bradley is concerned. I have high hopes in fact that the character of the area will not be destroyed,” he said.

“In April 2015 when the Wiltshire Core Strategy passed, it said that the character of the villages around Trowbridge should be preserved. So if this goes through they are going against their own words.

“That is why I feel these proposals will be deleted from the plans but I am always an optimist. I am not getting complacent though as too often developments get approved when they should not."