Success and prosperity often brings with it associated, sometimes unforeseen, problems. Take the Royal Wootton Bassett/Calne/ Lydiards/Purton/Cricklade area as an example.

There is constant pressure from outsiders who want to come and live there, and who can blame them? But that means developers falling over themselves to try to get planning permission for large developments, which risks wrecking the market town atmosphere and rural tranquillity for which they wanted to come here in the first place.

There is a crazy application for 300 houses and a Tesco superstore on virgin agricultural land to the north of Bassett. It would wreck the High Street, risk coalescing with Hook, and even towards Swindon; it uses up more agricultural land, contributes to the flooding problems and would spoil the whole atmosphere of the town.

Housing development also puts pressure on other local infrastructure. Royal Wootton Bassett Academy, whose fantastic sixth form I spoke to on Friday last, now has 1,800 students. It is a victim of its own success.

One of the Bassett doctors’ surgeries has had to close its books to new patients and ask some existing ones to find care elsewhere (a matter which I have recently raised with the Secretary of State for Health, NHS England and Wiltshire CCG). The Bassett ‘campus’, which will bring together many local government services, is an urgent necessity, especially as the population grows.

I welcome (I think) the electrification of the Great Western Rail line and the redoubling of the Swindon/ Kemble line (although I have grave reservations about HS2). The more people we can get off the roads and on to trains the better.

But we have seen real road and bridge disruption at Minety (without the widening of the culvert for which I was pressing to reduce flood risk in the village) and now at Sherston/Luckington; and we heard this week that virtually every road into and out of Bassett will be closed for substantial periods during this year.

I hope that Network Rail may use the opportunity to straighten out, or perhaps at least widen, the ‘skew’ bridges, and that they will phase the closures to ensure that Lyneham, Broad Town, and Bushton are not wholly cut off for too long a period.

We have so very much to be thankful for in Wiltshire. But none of it comes without a price – which we must grit our teeth and be ready to pay.