The New Eastern Villages programme is the largest expansion of Swindon for decades.

The 8,000 homes which the scheme could see built on land to the east of the A419 between the Commonhead roundabout and South Marston is four times the size of the Tadpole Garden Village development in North Swindon and twice the size of the Wichelstowe scheme. It is more than 2,000 houses bigger than both scheme put together – 4,000 at Wichelstowe and 1,855 at Tadpole garden Village.

Roads and improved access is so important to the success of the development that work should be starting any day, although the public inquiry is likely to delay work on the southern connector road itself.

The borough council’s cabinet member for strategic planning announced earlier this year that five separate road schemes would be started before the houses were built in order to have them in place immediately people started moving to the developments.

Key is the southern connector road running from the centre of the Lotmead site across the dual carriageway from Covingham south to the Commonhead roundabout

Assuming the council’s plans aren’t put back or have to be amended after the public inquiry this will be a single carriageway designed to give access to the south for people living in the new villages.

It will run through the centre of the Lotmead ‘village’ in order to discourage other motorists using it as a rat-run access to the M4, avoiding the A419.

Other improvements will be made to roads on the eastern side of Swindon, to ease movements fork the new villages into the centre.

First will be work on the White Hart roundabout where sliproads will be widened, the roundabout controlled by lights and the short access ramp onto the A419 northbound will be moved and entirely redesigned.

The A420 at Gable Cross, Piccadilly roundabout in Covingham will also be widened and London Road will be widened, a plan which has drawn a lot of opposition from residents there.