A small development of six-family houses can go ahead in South Marston.

The Whiting family which owns the site north of Thornhill Road, opposite Thornhill Industrial estate originally wanted to build eight houses on the field when the application was first put in in 2019.

But over the last four years that plan has been revised and now comprises of six houses, plus detached garages on a new road to be constructed off the main road.

The application said: “As a recognised sustainable settlement South Marston is able to accommodate proportionate additional growth.

“The site is suitable, available and developable. The site is in single-family ownership and it can come forward quickly and help to address Swindon Borough’s significant shortfall in housing land supply.”

The developer has been given outline consent only – the details of the design and precise layout of the houses will need a new fuller application and consent.

The applications said of the nearby St Michael’s Cottage and Gordon’s Cottage, which is listed: “Given how well screened the proposed development will continue to be and given the separation distances, we do not believe that the proposals will have a harmful or detrimental impact on the identified heritage assets or the wider area.

In response, South Marston Parish Council told the borough council planners: “We would ask for traffic calming by way of a road narrowing at the pedestrian crossing point. This would provide a safer crossing point, as elsewhere in the village.

"Additionally, as this is less than 100m from the start of the existing village 'chicanes', this could contribute to the 20mph zone that is proposed in existing planning consents."

The parish council also said the sewage system, which it says is already reaching overload, should be addressed by Thames Water, and requested the boundary to the development consists of hedges rather than trees.

Planners at Euclid Street have given the go-ahead for the plan, saying: “The application site is within the brownfield allocation for South Marston and as a result forms part of the proposals of the wider expansion of the village.”

It appears the parish council’s desire for changes to the road met approval as the borough council’s report said“A number of pedestrian improvements are proposed as part of this proposed development, ensuring the application site would be well connected with the proposed village centre.

The section 106 contribution to the council which the development requires is £4,598.