FOR many months I have been disappointed in the poor performance of the planning part of Wiltshire Council. Apart from the long-time failure to find a sensible site for a skate board site in Chippenham instead of the suggested site in Monkton Park, it is the current planning of a new eastern link road and housing estate to be constructed at the eastern side of the river that completely upsets my feelings.

The planning proposals were not acceptable to a planning inspector after a very small start was made in its presentation on not one, but two, separate occasions. It is very clear that significant changes must be made before an inspector has to be asked to look at it again.

It does seem to me that creating an eastern link road is aimed at creating a more circular town of Chippenham than currently exists, which may look more attractive on a map.

However, it is very clear that such a creation, together with the proposed housebuilding, will create very significant traffic problems in the Station Hill area and will also certainly render significant flooding likely to occur in the future.

Had we had downpours of rain such as has recently been experienced in the north, the proposed building site and road would no doubt have been significantly submerged. The lack of drainage created by a flooded new eastern housing estate and road would also have created more serious flooding effects on the currently existing housing estates on the western side of the river.

It is very clear to see the involvement of Councillor Sturgis in all of this significant potential problem, despite his claim that the council’s plans were not his responsibility, as they were approved by the Cabinet and the council. However, as he is the Cabinet member for spatial planning and the proposals were submitted in his name, I cannot see how he claims that it is not his fault that the plan failed to get past one and a half days out of the nine days of Examination in Public and it is also his fault that the plan failed on not one, but two, separate occasions. I do wonder why he did not attend either of the two examinations.

Councillor Sturgis has more than one involvement in this proposal because he is not only the Cabinet member for property as well as for spatial planning, he is also a leading member of the northern planning committee, which considers planning applications in detail. Not only that, he is also responsible for selling the involved council land and is proposing that it is allocated for housing. Perhaps some other councillor really should operate in some of those areas of work instead of Councillor Sturgis.

Finally, changing the subject a little, the prospect of A new supermarket has recently been announced to be built on the Middlefields site in Hungerdown Lane and personally I think that it would have been a much better site for housing which is not subject to flooding and is very close to good schools, which in my opinion is certainly better than another supermarket. Is this also a Chippenham planning mistake by Councillor Sturgis?

JIM BELK, Esmead, Chippenham