Plans for a huge development in Chippenham have moved a step closer to fruition.

Outline planning permission was granted in 2020 for the construction of up to 650 homes at Rawlings Farm, on the eastern edge of Chippenham.

The proposal included five-hectares of employment-generating land, a primary school and a 10-hectare country park.

One of the conditions for planning permission was a new road link into the site through an alteration and extension of Darcy Close.

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The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald: Aerial view of the proposed development locationAerial view of the proposed development location (Image: Barton Willmore)

In order for this condition to be respected, the council needed to appropriate the land for planning purposes.

Appropriating, in this context, refers to a local authority formally changing the purpose for which land is held.

At a meeting on Tuesday, May 7, the cabinet voted to approve the appropriation of the area at Darcy Close.

As a result, the owner of Rawlings Farm should be able to progress with the plans.

The outline planning application, which was submitted in 2018, stated: “The development will provide an attractive, connected and distinctive new community where people will aspire to live.”