THE Eastern Villages developments have come a major step closer, thanks to a brace of planning applications for sites totalling almost 2,600 homes.

Commendably, the plans appear to take into account the data from a public consultation and to place great emphasis on infrastructure.

Each of the pictures painted in the applications is a rosy one entirely in accordance with the provisions of Swindon’s local plan.

We hope nobody will begrudge us if we sound a note of caution, however. Before either of these applications is given approval, we very much hope they will be studied carefully by our officials and councillors.

We say this not as a criticism of developer Ainscough Strategic Land, as the organisation has given no reason to doubt its commitment. Rather, we are mindful of certain issues which arose around certain other developers in the past.

In a number of instances, promises were issued to the effect that infrastructure would be provided, only for it to emerge later that no specific schedule for the creation of that infrastructure was included in the fine print.

As a result, unhappy new residents were left for long periods of time without the amenities whose presence in sales brochures had tempted them to part with large sums of money.

In some cases, amenities were promised but residents were doomed to wait many years for those amenities to arrive.

There is no suggestion that such a thing is likely to happen here, but any planning agreement should nevertheless include an infrastructure schedule.

This should be specific and binding, right down to the last bench in a pub garden and the last bolt used to affix the last locker to the wall of a leisure facility.

Future Swindonians deserve nothing less.