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Read our comments regarding the draft report on housing in Swindon
Instead of building on green field sites and risking the integrity of rural villages we should look to regenerate town centres, say CPRE Wiltshire’s chair Anne Henshaw
Anne Henshaw, Chair of CPRE Wiltshire commented on the plans to build an extra 20,000 houses in Swindon:
“The draft plan emphasises that there could be around 600 flats in the centre of Swindon but this is insufficient if we want to have a sustainable Swindon.
“The CPRE survey of brownfield land has shown there is a significant under estimation of the capacity in town centres for housing: instead of building on greenfield spaces we should be looking at developments on brownfield sites. Such developments will also increase economic activity in town centres.
“Growth should be central and should include employment opportunities – with 1.7 million vacancies in the country and opportunities for innovation we should be creating an environment where entrepreneurship can flourish.
“From the details announced so far there is a genuine risk that villages like Wroughton and Highworth could lose their identity through these building plans and rural roads could turn into rat runs for traffic and harming our goals for zero carbon and sustainability.
“We must end the trend of the last 20 years of losing rural communities through the pursuit of easy money.”
You can read the full story on the Swindon Advertiser here.
By Brian Robert Marshall
