ObjectionS to revised plans for new housing next to Lay Wood, off Horton Road, have been reiterated by Devizes Town Council, Bishops Cannings and Roundway parish councils.

All three councils discussed amended plans by the landowner, the Crown Estate, for 230 houses – 30 fewer than originally proposed – in the past week and said such a large-scale development was not needed.

Their view is that future housing developments in the town and surrounding parishes should be on small- scale sites as identified in the Devizes Neighbourhood Plan to ease the burden on the infrastructure of Devizes.

The Crown Estate reduced the number of homes it wanted after the discovery of Roman remains during an archaeological dig.

It is also proposing to spend £3.5 million on enhancements to the local area including £800,000 for traffic schemes, £57,000 towards improvements to footpaths in Bishops Cannings and £1.3m for new public open spaces.

Speaking at a meeting of Devizes Town Council’s planning committee, on Tuesday night Neil Hall, of the Crown Estate’s environmental consultants, Amec, said: “The plan is to draw in the eastern boundary and knock off 30 dwellings. Fifty per cent of the site is going to be community open space.”

Coun Ian Hopkins said: “It’s a very laudable scheme but we cannot simply accommodate any large development.”

Coun Chris Callow, chairman of Roundway Parish Council, said: “A vast development in one place would potentially destabilise what we are trying to do in terms of solving traffic and pollution problems.”