Decision made on if Devizes' land grab of smaller neighbour is fair

Devizes Town Council went into a meeting of Wiltshire Council's Electoral Review Committee looking to take over urban parts of the rural parish of Bishops Cannings.

But two hours later it left facing the threat of having to cede territory - including a new estate of 200 houses still under construction.

In February, the Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed that Devizes Town Council was planning an "unsolicited and brazen land grab" from its neighbour, Bishops Cannings.

Devizes, which has a population of 18,000, told Wiltshire Council it wanted to take over land to its north, which includes B&Q and Lidl, Le Marchant Barracks, Devizes Marina, and the site of the proposed new Aldi supermarket, along with hundreds of houses around Northfields and Cannings Hill.

Devizes claimed that the Northfields area is a "large urban area which identifies geographically, economically, and socially much more strongly with Devizes than the very rural parish of Bishops Cannings."

At the meeting on Thursday, Devizes town clerk Simon Williams said: "This is not an abstract line on a map. A vibrant urban community of more than 2,000 electors. They align naturally with the town."

He said Northfields residents benefit from council-owned facilities, but do not contribute financially to them.

Devizes Town Council, he added, regularly gets service requests from the urban areas of Bishops Cannings.

"They are quite incredulous when they're told we can't respond to their request," he said.

And Devizes Town Councillor Iain Wallis said: "Where do these communities naturally belong? The answer, in our view, is Devizes.

"It looks like it is part of the town. The character of the area is urban, and residents look to Devizes."

"It would be a positive step."

Speaking for Bishops Cannings Parish Council, which represents around 2,600 electors, 2,000 of whom live in the contested territory, chairman Darren Bone spoke of "a spider's web of interaction involving Horton and Coate and Little Horton and Bishops Cannings and the urban area," which coalesced around the village school.

He said the parish council had made an effort to include the urban communities, and that six members of the 10-strong parish council came from the area around Northfields.

And Chris Nichols, a resident of Lay Wood - one of the newer housing estates north of Devizes which is part of Bishops Cannings parish - said: "Lay Wood isn't just a housing estate on the edge of Devizes. It's a community with its own identity.

"If we became part of a larger council, our voices could become diluted and not be heard, and the lines of communication we have with decision-makers would be lost.

"We're not asking for something new. We're asking for something we've already got; something that works."

And Wiltshire Councillor Philip Whitehead, who represents Urchfont & Bishops Cannings, said: "Northfields is a coherent part of an existing parish. This is not about boundaries; this is about communities."

When committee members came to question the witnesses, Cllr Ashley O'Neill (Calne Rural, Conservative) asked each the same question - what it was that made people on one side of London Road - the dividing line between the two parishes - distinct from the other?

"What is it about the houses on one side of a road that makes people feel they are living in a different community to people who live on the other side of the road?" he asked. "I suggest there isn't anything."

"This is our argument," said Devizes' Cllr Wallis. "London Road becomes the boundary with Roundway (part of Devizes since the last boundary review) on one side, and Bishops Cannings on the other, and they do not feel like separate communities. We feel it is one community."

"I really do think we should tidy up the boundary on London Road," said Cllr O'Neill. We also need to look at the development on Coate Road."

Then came the twist: "I think the boundary should be Windsor Drive, and everything east and north of Windsor Drive should be in Bishops Cannings."

A vote for Northfields to stay in Bishops Cannings was won by five votes to three. A separate vote to consult the residents on the west side of London Road, north of Windsor Drive, was also carried.

And councillors agreed to consult Devizes Town Council and Bishops Cannings Parish Council about assigning the new development at Coate Road - a Bellway Homes development of 200 houses - to the rural parish.

Nothing is yet set in stone. The committee's recommendation will be passed to Full Council, which will debate the matter of boundary changes in July, following public consultation in April and May.