PROTESTS against plans to build 300 houses on green fields around Trowbridge are mounting up.

Trowbridge councillors have blasted three bids to build hundreds of houses in the fields around Wiltshire’s county town.

In Southwick, residents have launched a petition, signed by around 400 people, opposing plans by Waddeton Park to put up 180 houses near the medieval manor house, Southwick Court.

David Vigar, who represents the Grove ward, told the Times that the fields are situated on a floodplain and that the petition was sent to MPs and COP26 president, Alok Sharma by the councillor.

“The commitments made at COP26 to create a climate-resilient future ring hollow to people in Trowbridge when they see plans being made to build a new estate on fields that are flooding more frequently as the local weather gets wetter,” he added.

“Mr Sharma has rightly said that the rapidly changing climate is sounding an alarm to the world, but the right way to respond in Trowbridge is not to build where flooding will only get worse.”

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Government policy requires tests so that floodplains are not built on and Cllr Vigar accused the council of not carrying out a flood risk check where sites are compared county-wide.

The councillor said that planning agent Savills claimed the tests had been passed “simply because the site is included in the Wiltshire site allocation plan”.

“So I do not believe that it has been proved that there is no available site with less flood risk,” he added.

Meanwhile, deputy town mayor Graham Hill is gathering support for another petition that protests the “lack of a joined-up plan” for three sites including bids in Southwick Court Fields, Upper Studley, south of Spring Meadows, and the land south of Church Lane.

Around 50 homes are planned for each of Upper Studley and Church Lane sites.

In 2020, the councillors said that a government inspector “indicated” that there was a need for a masterplan for the bids.

Cllr Hill said: “As local people know, these three sites are physically linked, not least by the Lambrok Stream. They need to be considered together.

“Also, these applications appear to be being rushed through.

“External agencies such as the Environment Agency have not been requested to comment on the combined impacts of the above applications despite the clear evidence of flooding occurring frequently across the area covered by the three sites.”