Open letter to Baroness Scott PLEASE can you explain to the people of West Wiltshire whether or not Wiltshire Council remains in control of development in our area? Many people fondly imagine that the council has the power to refuse development where there is overwhelming local opposition and sound reasons for doing so. But this appears to no longer be true.

In March the council lost an appeal in respect of a planning application in Bradford-on-Avon. The planning inspector said: “the council cannot currently demonstrate a deliverable five-year housing land supply in accordance with paragraph 47 of the National Planning Policy Framework” and “policies for the supply of housing should not be considered up to date” and so there should be a “presumption in favour of sustainable development”, ie, developers can build anywhere they like unless the council can find enough adverse impacts to stop them.

We have waited in vain since March to hear what the council is doing about this. Please can you tell us urgently: 1. What is the current state of the five-year housing supply (specific numbers please)? Is West Wiltshire still short of sites? Have the new proposed developments we read about weekly made a difference?

2. Will the Wiltshire Housing Site Allocations Plan (which is not expected to be adopted until December 2017) demonstrate a robust five-year supply of housing land? What are you doing to protect our community until this plan is adopted?

Planning is a core responsibility of a local authority. In Hilperton and eastern Trowbridge (and in other places) the local community continues to fight to save a precious green space and is entirely dependent on the council to deliver proper and effective planning.

Please tell us what is going on.

George Bunting, Hilperton Gap Action group