Developer let off building NEV school asks to build 71 houses on site instead
The houses will be 'dropped' in to the empty site after 299 houses go up
Land which was originally set aside for a primary school to serve the residents in one of the expansion areas being built on Swindon’s borders could see more than 70 houses built instead.
Developer Danescroft has submitted a proposal to build 71 houses on the site on the edge of Foxbridge village’s northern portion – that will bring the number of houses in Foxbridge North to 370.
The company says it will build the 299 houses that it already has permission for – and then will come back to build 71 houses on the empty site, if given permission: “The application seeks fresh permission for an alternative development of land previously indicated for a two-form entry primary school.”
That’s to allow the builder to get on with the rest of the development in a triangle formed by Wanborough Road to the east and the A419 to the west: “The application relates to a ‘drop-in’ application, which in practice is to be implemented once the first phase comprising the remainder of the original outline boundary has been completed and thus no further reliance placed on that permission.”
Danescroft appealed to a planning inspector against having to build a school saying there was sufficient primary education provision elsewhere in the NEV programme – and the inspector agreed.
The land set aside for the school was a rectangular site just north of the Foxbridge Village centre bordered to the south by the Southern Connector road running from South Marston just north of the Commonhead Roundabout.
Plans show the 71 houses will be set out in three broadly rectangular layouts with a T-shaped access road, called in the application Gren Street joining the development to the rest of Foxbridge North.
When all the houses are built this development will be, in practice, indistinguishable from the rest of the northern part of the village.
The north-eastern edge of the houses will border the wide green space separating the village form the developments to the north.
Danescroft’s application says: “The landscape strategy shall seek to retain existing trees and hedgerows to strengthen green infrastructure and deliver a landscape framework that supports amenity, biodiversity, and an attractive setting for future residents.”
A pocket park is included in the plans in the south eastern corner of the site where it joins the village’s local centre.
The housing will be of a higher density on the southern and western borders of the site, where it joins the rest of the village, and will gradually become less dense at it moves towards the open space.
Green Street will form the primary connection between Phase 2 and adjacent Phase 1, along a verdant, well-landscaped route with screened frontage parking. The internal Green Street will link key green spaces at the Pocket Park and Community Grow area via safe pedestrian paths, enhanced by tree-lined green verges.
No decision on the application is expected before November.