PLANS to build almost 1,000 homes and a business park next to a Swindon beauty spot have been met with weary resignation by campaigners, who have been fighting developers for more than a decade.

New details have been released of the Swindon Gateway Partnership’s renewed efforts to build on land near Coate Water.

The developers have abandoned their plans for a university campus and have cut the number of houses from 1,800 to 960 but protesters say the proposals are still unacceptable.

The Partnership, made up of Redrow and Persimmon Homes, had an appeal over two planning applications for the same site rejected by the Communities Minister in August.

A public consultation over the new application will be held tomorrow at Park South Community Hall in Cranmore Avenue from 1pm to 7pm.

Richard Briggs, the managing director of Persimmon Homes Special Projects, said tomorrow’s exhibition would aim to gauge public opinion prior to submitting a formal planning application.

He said: “The new application will respond to the Appeal Inspector’s comments, made when our previous proposal was refused, and revisions comprise removing plans for development south of Day House Lane, including the university campus.

“The updated proposal on which we are seeking comments at the consultation event, consists of the development of land north of Day House Lane, including 960 homes, a 13.5 hectare business park, with 1.5 hectares of employment uses in a mixed use high street, local centre, primary school and open space and green corridors.

“Any comments we receive at the consultation will then be taken into consideration before submitting the application later this year.”

Jean Saunders, who has long campaigned against development at Coate, said: “We hadn’t really anticipated the developers would come back so quickly.

“It is very disappointing. Quite honestly I don’t know if I have the strength to carry on campaigning against it.

“It’s a real David and Goliath situation. They have the power and the money and the fancy barristers, whereas we are just ordinary people who want the best for Swindon.

“But I would still urge people to object to this planning application. 960 homes is a lot of houses and they won’t just disappear into the background.

“Once the land is tainted by houses we will never get it back.”