Swindon councillors will reconsider a plan to build 19 homes on land at Home Farm in Blunsdon when the special committee meets on 14 July, with officers again recommending approval. The application from Hills Homes Developments Ltd returns after a three-month deferral that allowed highways engineers to assess a construction vehicle route through Anvil Street, Forge Street and Horseshoe Square.
The council’s highways team has now confirmed the one-way route raises no safety objections, clearing a hurdle that stalled the scheme in April. The developer proposes six affordable homes alongside contributions worth more than £85,000 for open space, sports facilities and sustainable transport. Case officer Tom Buxton’s report sets out the financial package, though Blunsdon Parish Council and 47 residents maintain their opposition to building outside the settlement boundary.
The site has been under consideration since March 2023, making it one of the longer-running applications in the borough. It sits beside the Broad Blunsdon Conservation Area and falls within the outer zone of influence for the North Meadow Special Area of Conservation, the protected lowland hay meadow near Cricklade that supports Britain’s largest snake’s head fritillary population. A group of twelve elm trees on the land is covered by a 1973 Tree Preservation Order.
Objectors have questioned whether Anvil Street and Horseshoe Road were ever intended to serve as access routes for another housing estate, pointing to the site’s rural village character. The council’s planning portal shows the decision deadline lands on 17 July, three days after the committee session.
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