A previous independent inspector made the following telling comments:

(i)  The proposed Eastern bypass route (compared with the Western routes)  includes a substantial length in a designated Special Landscape Area.

(ii)  There is no proof that problems for the water protection zone at Wellhead    (as will be caused by an Eastern route) can be satisfactorily overcome.

(iii)  A large majority of people who express a view prefer a Far Western route.

(iv)  The County Council has not shown overall costs on a like-for-like basis.

The inspector recommended that the County Council and the District Council should reconsider the matter, make a justified choice and modify the plan.

Wiltshire County Council's stance in the face of independent recommendations
is being driven by a haughty group of councillors (and senior officers who are obliged to toady to them) who regard business development as all-important.
It shows how much these County Councillors actually possess business sense that they are wastefully persisting with a defective and uneconomic scheme.