Protests, petitions and palpable fury are gathering force in the battle to prevent Chippenham’s sprawl and the destruction of the countryside. On Saturday, more than 150 protesters, alongside North Wiltshire MP James Gray, rallied against the plans to build a distributor road linking the A350 and the 7,500 extra houses it would pave the way for. Mr Gray said they must stop the “desecration of the countryside”. Steve Perry, chairman of CAUSE, the Campaign Against Urban Sprawl to the East (of Chippenham), accused Wiltshire Council of predetermination with the plans, which will be up for consultation next year. He also claimed the local authority was misleading people by saying the road and resultant houses were to meet Chippenham’s housing needs.
Protests, petitions and palpable fury are gathering force in the battle to prevent Chippenham sprawl and ‘the destruction of the countryside.’ More than 150 protesters rallied against plans to build the A350 link road and the 7,500 extra houses to go with it. Hundreds more have banded together in Derry Hill and Forest Gate - determined to halt plans for a massive 200 acre solar farm. The site is on land owned by Lord Landsdowne, Charles Petty-Fitzmaurice - who also owns Bowood House. “If you add the solar farm and the new road development, then whole area will be redefined. It’s no longer villages, green space and woodlands as Chippenham will now merge with Derry Hill and is rapidly encroaching towards Calne,” said solar farm protestor Neil Beedie.
Protests, petitions and palpable fury are gathering force in the battle to prevent Chippenham sprawl and ‘the destruction of the countryside.’ More than 150 protesters rallied against plans to build the A350 link road and the 7,500 extra houses to go with it. Hundreds more have banded together in Derry Hill and Forest Gate - determined to halt plans for a massive 200 acre solar farm. The site is on land owned by Lord Landsdowne, Charles Petty-Fitzmaurice - who also owns Bowood House. “If you add the solar farm and the new road development, then whole area will be redefined. It’s no longer villages, green space and woodlands as Chippenham will now merge with Derry Hill and is rapidly encroaching towards Calne,” said solar farm protestor Neil Beedie.