ANGRY residents who oppose an application to build 82 homes in Trowbridge will have their concerns heard after a local councillor called for a public meeting on the issue.

Newland Homes wants to build 82 homes on land just off Bradley Road, despite Wiltshire Council’s site allocation housing plan stating that no more than 55 houses should be built there.

Residents have hit out at the developer, saying this will overrun the area, that mature trees will be chopped down and there will be highways and congestion issues as well.

As a result of these concerns, councillor Graham Payne has ‘called-in’ the application, meaning that instead of it being decided by a team of officers meeting in private it will be debated by the Western Planning Committee and locals will be able to have their say.

“There are a lot of very concerned people who do not want this to go ahead and I agree with them,” said Cllr Payne.

“After hearing their concerns, I am calling it in on the grounds of over development on the site, the loss of mature trees, and that access routes are not good enough.

“If you have two exits from a housing estate that come out onto Wiltshire Drive, which has 5,000 cars going along it every day, and another onto Bradley Road, where you get 18,000 cars a day, there is going to be a build up of congestion.

“They are within 75 yards of each other. There needs to be an investigation to see if that will exacerbate the problem. It is important that residents are given a say, as this development will impact them greatly.”

Just over 20 homes have been earmarked for affordable and social housing.