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Is it worth responding?
I'm sure that just about everyone in Hilperton has had 'the letter' by now.
If you haven't it is inviting you to pop along to the rugby club (handily placed outside of the village - what was wrong with the village hall?) for a 'consultation event' on the 30th June between 14.00 and 20.00.
An alternative is to go on-line at www.greatwhaddonconsultation.com
You will, no doubt, note that a planning application is to be submitted to Wiltshire Council 'in late summer 2026'. In other words, the 'consultation' is really just a 'box ticking' exercise in the planning process. Seemingly, no notice will be taken of your thoughts/comments.
Interestingly, I have just received an email about the proposed development from a long-standing local. I repeat most of it below.
"I have justjust received the letter from Pegasus.
I write to express in the strongest possible way my objection to the scheme proposed, I have read some of the blurb on the web site, and believe most of it is tosh. I can not honestly believe Wiltshire needs more houses, you only have to drive around locally to see the destruction of agricultural land with house building, I refer to Westbury, Warminster, Salisbury etc, etc, etc.
Why oh Why can't we build on the many brown field sites first?
This plan must be fought in the strongest possible way, if it is allowed to go ahead it will destroy what we currently covet here in Hilperton, which is village status.
We already have the huge expanse of Paxcroft Mead. There is also the up-coming development on the Polebarn / Ashton road. There can't possibly be any need for more housing. Who's buying them ? Will we become 'Trowbridge without', Hilperton smothered and gone ,just a suburb. I note , as a side bar, that several on Church Farm remain unsold.
My main objection ,as always, is the wanton destruction of Grade 1 agricultural land.
Do these people not understand this country needs to feed itself and not rely on imports. The recent debarkal in the middle east has shown , how one country can hold the rest of the world to ransom.
This simply can't go on, it is unsustainable, once the land has gone, there is no more, and when these money grabbing bastards see that ,all the better.
I trust that you will be opposing this gratuitous application, and raise support for it's objection and denial."
I have yet to look at the captioned website. Being the chairman of the Wiltshire Council Strategic Planning Committee, I have to ensure that I do not disqualify myself from any discussion by pre-determining my position. I am allowed to be pre-disposed, but not pre-determined.
There is a meeting of the Hilperton Area Action Group (HAAG) this Thursday evening in the village hall lounge area. The 'consultation' is on the agenda.