In Julie Armstrong’s ‘five new schools and 4,000 homes planned’ (Chippenham Gazette & Herald, February 12), there was no evidence to demonstrate why this development was needed in Chippenham.

Apparently the public will be consulted for six weeks on the possible location of the new developments.

As these are part of what is known as a draft Chippenham site allocations plan, approved by Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet on Tuesday, it outlines where housing and employment land should be delivered between now and 2028. There is no mention of any statistics to support such a need. These should form part of any development plans. Why are they not made available for public scrutiny, together with the now accepted mention of localism?

Surely ‘localism’, according to Mr Cameron, must now play a part in any development plan, which will affect the environmental and human wellbeing of any future changes to a town or village.

David Harvey, Brookwell Close, Chippenham.