Opportunities
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Provision of a significant number of new homes in a sustainable location well connected to Trowbridge and Hilperton.
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New country park at Hag Hill, with commanding long-distance views, serving as strategic Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG) for existing and new residents.
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Integration of existing public rights of way into a broader network of walking and cycling routes.
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Comprehensive landscape-scale masterplanning approach to the achievement of ecological mitigation (notably for bats) and a biodiversity net gain in habitat.
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Critical mass of development to deliver a mixed-use local centre with space for small shops, workspaces or a café along with a school and provision for indoor leisure and food retail.
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Expansion of sports provision, building on the existing Trowbridge Rugby Club facilities, with potential for a new leisure centre or satellite community pitch facility.
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Enhanced public transport building on existing bus services along Marsh Road/Hill Street and the A361.
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Future proofing so as to enable a second strategic phase closer to Hill Street and the canal.
Constraints and Opportunities Plan
Constraints
Masterplanning has been informed by a Constraints and Opportunities assessment, as shown in the drawing below. The key constraints are:
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Bechstein's Bat flight routes linking Biss Wood, Green Lane Wood and the Bath and Bradford on Avon Bats Special Area of Conservation (SAC).
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Limited areas of surface water flood risk around Paxcroft Brook and associated drainage ditches.
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Existing hedgerows and occasional perimeter trees.
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Non-designated Iron Age/Romano-British archaeology north of Trowbridge Rugby Club.
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132kV transmission lines crossing the ground between the A361 and Hag Hill, with associated no-build easements on either side.
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A361 trunk road divides the site with no existing pedestrian crossing facilities.
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Existing public rights of way including Whaddon Lane.
Site Context Plan
The site extends to around 117 hectares and comprises a large series of field parcels on both sides of the A361, situated immediately eastward of Hilperton, Trowbridge.
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It comprises open and undeveloped grassland enclosed by a mixture of trees and hedgerow, in close proximity to commercial space at Paxcroft Farm (to the southwest), Trowbridge Rugby Football Club, and caravan storage at Fairfields to the east.
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Much of the site is formed of relatively flat or gently undulating topography, characteristic of the local landscape, with intermittent visibility from surrounding roads and other public viewpoints such as the nearby bridleway. Steeper slopes are associated with Hag Hill and the high ground leading to the A350.
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Notably, the westernmost part of the site (land between Devizes Road and Whaddon Lane) was draft allocated under Wiltshire’s emerging Local Plan as part of a wider site allocation (Policy 53 - Land North-East of Hilperton) for 600 dwellings, 2ha land for a 2FE primary school, convenience store, and 0.3ha land for 80 place early years provision.
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A separate planning application by Redcliffe Homes is already being determined and a further application by neighbouring Barwood is also expected. The withdrawn Local Plan also sought the creation of a Country Park (Policy 54), between the A361 and A350, acting as SANG.