Prompted by comments at last night's meeting, I note that the Regional Development Agency has bought 37 acres of land for 5.6 million pounds in Warminster for redevelopment for employment - link. It was also commented that the SWRDA has also found money to fund (or help fund?) the Westbury bypass to facilitate access to the site, on land currently used by the Army Based Repair Organisation.

Further link.

I have written to the SWRDA as follows, and await a reply:

Certainly, new roads can act as sponges to pull in traffic from many miles ... and end up with much more traffic that just that off the former roads they're immediately releiving. Thus a Westbury bypass will indeed put more pressure on the section past Leekes in Melksham, and on the Chippenham bypass; almost certainly, some traffic that currently reaches the M4 via the A36 / A46 will switch to the A350.  It's an ongoing thing ... the roundabout that's 100 yards from our home is said to be "grossly overengineered for its current traffic", and much of the Chippenham bypass is structured to allow a second carriageway later.  Get those fixed and you'll pull in - perhaps - Swindon to Warminster traffic that currently uses the A361 then you'll find you've got a bottlneck at the lights at Notton / Lacock.

But all there something really radical in all of this, it won't provide much faster town to town public transport services.  Look at the new Semington bypass ... the buses don't use it, and the only accelleration that they've gained is from lack of traffic on the old road.  It has to be that way of they're to continue to serve the communities.  The practical cost way to provide a fast public service between centres in West Wilts - an area that's growing into a semi-urban community as towns march towards each other - is to use the existing rail corridor.  That may involve the extra costs of redoubling Thingley to Bradford South in a few years, or putting the extra track back on the 4th platform at Westbury, and of building stations at Wootton Bassett, Lacock, Staverton/Holt and White Horse Business Park, but that's peanuts compared to the price of putting an express busway through Chippenham, Melksham, Trowbridge, Westbury and Warminster centres and associated other roads to take the other vehicles displaced.

As regards infill, we need to look at the wider question "what do we want?".  Do we want more housing built in the area, and the area to continue to grow as the economic dynamo it already is?  At the other extreme, do we want to little new housing that there's a shortage of accommodation? ... remember that the average housegold size is decreasing. In 1971, 100 houses would on average hold 291 individuals. 30 years later, those same houses would hold just 233 individuals.