Houses proposed for field by Drove Vets

A planning application has been submitted to build 34 houses in the field opposite Drove Vets. The vets previously applied to build 16 offices in the field. That planning permission, from 2017, has now lapsed. Drove Vets sold the field in 2019 and the new owners now want to build houses there instead. The homes in the development will mainly be terraces of two and three bedrooms houses.

The proposal keeps the canal from the previous application for offices. It also keeps the same sound barrier to reduce noise from the motorway – a fence on top of a low bank between the canal and the motorway. The plans include a small drainage pond in the western corner of the site. The canal and pond are the only public spaces in the development.

The proposal includes extra passing places on the road to Drove Vets and a wider junction with Blackhorse Way. Consultants for the developer, Beechwood House Developments Limited, believe the houses will lead to less car traffic than the previous proposal for offices.

The application, S/22/0124, can be viewed on Swindon Borough Council’s planning portal and is open for comments until 23^rd February. The council expect to make a decision on the application by the end of April.

Update, 22 March 2022: this application has now been withdrawn by the applicant, having been subject to numerous criticisms from Swindon borough council’s officers.

Update, 19 March 2023: a new application has now been submitted, identical in design and layout to the earlier one, but with additional supporting information provided. Planning application S/23/0152 is open for comments until 3^rd April 2023.