Hundreds of houses on land in south Swindon formerly designated for industrial use are likely to get the go ahead next week.

Councillors on Swindon Borough Council's planning committee will determine an application for planning permission for 300 houses to be built at the Badbury Park development at Commonhead.

And the officers report is recommending they approve the scheme despite worries about increased traffic and pollution.

The site originally had permission for a business park but, the report says, while 21 inquiries were made to agents for a variety of uses including retail, a garden centre, a hotel, and motorway services, none came to fruition.

Access to the site was mandated through the growing residential site in the area along Homington Avenue and this is thought to be"severely limiting on the majority of commercial occupiers as this is unsuitable for heavy goods vehicles or large-cale warehousing or manufacturing."

Officers have accepted the site is unlikely to find a commercial user soon.

Now Persimmon Homes and Redrow Homes want to add 300 houses to the hundreds already being built or planned in the area.

The application is for outline permission, which means details of the design and layout of the houses will be submitted later.

But the developers go into detail how road access to the site could be managed.

Although the site is bounded by both the M4 and A419, the main access would be on Homington Avenue, which runs through the new housing estate to the north of the site.

Day House Lane crosses the site, but traffic will be discouraged from using it to access the new houses, with a junction with one way access onto Homington Close

The report to the committee says: "The replacement of the business park would lead to a further 197 car movements in the morning hour and 213 in the evening peak hour." But compared to the expected traffic generated by the business park, it concludes the new application "would reduce traffic by 402 vehicle movements in the morning peak and 250 movements in the evening peak."

But there are concerns about pedestrians and cyclists from the new estate using Day House Lane, especially to get to Coate Water Park: "The already occupied development at Badbury Park have identified conflict between drivers and those who walk,cycle and ride on the lane, and those issues will be aggravated as a consequence of the proposals." The developers have agreed to pay towards making it safer for pedestrians, riders and cyclists on the lane.

Residents in the houses to the north of the site have written with concerns that construction traffic will be made to use Homington Lane.

One wrote: "The roads are already suffering from excess traffic and speeding. No community facilities have been provided as proposed in the original planning. The developers want to increase their profit with no regard to the residents' quality of life."

The Wilts and Berks Canal Trust has also objected, saying land set aside for the construction of a new canal will not be sufficient to ensure a good flow of water. The trust wants the canal to be constructed along with the houses, not left for a later date.

The planning committee meets at 6pm on Tuesday December 11.