PROTESTERS will march through Swindon over fears about what they claim is the town's over-development.

The second Swindon Together On Planning (STOP) family march was announced as possible plans for the development of Coate were revealed.

The plans, submitted to a local inquiry, have been described by the Save Coate coalition as 'a crime that must be stopped'.

The possible development of a university and housing at Coate is one cause for the STOP protest march, which will take place on April 9.

Organiser Alan Hayward said: "The first STOP March was held last June and since then the planning situation in Swindon has just got worse and worse.

"The full horror of the proposals for the land around Coate has just been revealed six and seven-storey buildings next to the country park.

"The town centre regeneration, which is key to the future economic prosperity of Swindon is still missing that vital component which will make it successful, like a major university campus.

"On top of all this we have the Draft Sub-Regional Spatial Strategy which will target Swindon for another 24,000 houses over the next 20 years, swamping the surrounding towns and villages and irreversibly losing the town's main attraction its rural setting.

"From the deluge of letters

in the local papers recently, I think people have had enough of the proposals but most of all with not being asked what they want of the town

that they live in or next to."

The development at Coate will be discussed at a public inquiry from April 19 to 21 and possible plans have just been submitted by the Swindon Gateway Partnership a coalition made up of the University of Bath, Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust, Persimmon Homes and Redrow Homes which are working in partnership to develop the land at Coate.

The Save Coate coalition says the plans show that the university buildings could be five storeys high around Coate Water nature reserve and that some of the proposed 1,800 houses are planned next to Coate Water Country Park's boundary with no buffer.

A pyramid structure of up to 123 feet tall is also proposed for business use towards Junction 15 of the M4 motorway.

Save Coate spokeswoman Jean Saunders said: "Not only will the beautiful views to and from Coate Water and the North Wessex Downs be lost forever, the towering buildings will turn Swindon's favourite tourist attraction into an ugly blot on the landscape. This is a crime that must be stopped."

Les Durrant, planning consultant for the project, said: "The comments from Friends of the Earth are based on information that has been submitted to assist with the debate on the Gateway site during the Local Plan inquiry.

"The partnership does not feel it would be appropriate to enter into a debate about the site through the media at this stage.

"The Gateway Partnership will make further information available at an appropriate time before the planning inquiry opens on April 19."

The public can attend the Swindon Local Plan Inquiry that is being held at the Pilgrim Centre in Regent Circus.

The STOP march will meet at 11am on Saturday, April 9, at Faringdon Road Park. Protesters will march through the town centre to the Civic Offices in Euclid Street for a rally and speeches at midday.

Further details on STOP and the background to the protest can be found at www.swindon-STOP.org.uk

Isabel Field