A planning application has been submitted for permission to build up to 17 new homes near Chippenham.

Applicants Mr Andrew Bailey and Mrs Debbie-Lee Bailey own the land west of Kington Lane, Stanton St. Quintin.

The planning statement says the proposal will bring benefits to the area including boosting the supply of housing, the addition of jobs, and the "modest additional growth in population", which it says would assist with the "long-term viablitiy of existing services and facilities".

It adds that the proposal would also deliver additional services for the village, such as a play area.

If approved, there would be four two-bedroom houses, along with nine with three-bedrooms and four with four-bedrooms.

Seven would be classed as "affordable", split between socially rented and shared ownership.

The scheme would also incorporate a pond and boundary planting and hedgerows, as well as bat and bird boxes, and there would be a new pedestrian route through the site, which would be formed along Kington Lane to link to the current footpath.

Proposed access to the site is from Kington Lane.

The planning statement says that the site is located within the Chippenham Community Area, on the edge of Stanton St. Quintin, and outside of the "defined limits of development".

It goes on to say that Wiltshire Council "cannot sufficiently evidence" a five-year supply of deliverable housing land, and argues that, per paragraph 11 of the planning framework, permission should be granted unless any adverse impacts of doing so would significantly and demostrably outweight the benefits.

It also says that the houses would provide economic benefits through construction and occupation, and would support the retention and growth of local services and facilities.

It states: "The proposal would comply with the thrust of the council’s housing strategy and new residents would have safe and convenient access to a range of services and facilities by means of travel other than by private vehicle.

"In addition, the scheme would not cause harm to living conditions, prejudice highway safety or cause harm to the historic environment. Nether would it cause any other planning harms in terms of the other material planning considerations identified within this statement."

The applicants do accept that the scheme would result in some "inevitable environmental harm through the urbanisation of an undeveloped field", but they argue that the harm can be diluted to "some degree" through good design.