A SWINDON pressure group fighting the uni-versity campus plan at Coate Water says a recent government recom-mendation is not clear cut.

Friends of the Earth say, even though an indepen-dent panel has given the green light to the scheme for a new University of Bath campus and 1,800 new homes, important points were raised in the report.

The Examination in Public report, unveiled last week, said the scheme was broadly appropriate, providing a good basis for development in the plan period from 1996 to 2016.

But the panel also pointed out that existing wildlife in the area should be protected and natural habitats enhanced.

The panel also suggested extensive buffer areas should be created around Coate Water, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, with landscaping carried out to protect the views from the North Wessex Downs, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Jean Saunders, a main player in the campaign to block development at Coate, said: "Once a full environmental study of the area is carried out and assuming that a thorough inspection is made, we are confident that a 1km wide buffer of landscaping will be required around Coate Water to achieve these goals."

Friends of the Earth also claim the panel was scathing about the public consultation that led to the council's selection of Coate in the first place.

A Principal Urban Area study was carried out by Swindon Borough and Wiltshire County Council that informed the ultimate site selection.

The pressure group claims the panel wanted to know why public opposition to building on Swindon's Rural Buffer land was considered a no-go area while the strong public opinion against building at Coate was being dismissed by Swindon Council.

The report asked about the opposition to the plans and how much consultation is carried out in the future.

It said: "We urge the Strategic Planning Authorities to review the approach they take on all these points in future as a matter of good planning practice."

Mrs Saunders said: "The truth is that no-one was consulted about the option to build at Coate. Meetings have taken place behind closed doors. If the public has been asked, the council will have heard a resounding no-way."

In response, a Swindon Council spokeswoman said: "The recommendations of the panel, following the Examination In Public into the draft alteration to the Wiltshire and Swindon Structure Plan, will be carefully considered by the borough council and Wiltshire County Council, with due regard being given to the reasons behind the panel's recommendations.

"The councils will then decide what modifications are needed to the plan and will undertake further consultation before any changes to the plan are adopted."

The 128-page Wiltshire and Swindon Examination in Public report was released last week on its website www.wiltshireandswindoneip.org.uk

Called the Wiltshire and Swindon Structure Plan 2016, the report was prepared by chairman Jim Parke and inspector David Asher who began the EIP on behalf of the Government on June 22.

Anthony Osborne