Lord of 'Larkrise to Candleford' estate infuriates neighbours Why should he behave in such a cavalier and un-neighbourly fashion, forcing those with nothing to gain from the application to suffer? The strategic planning authority appear unable to exert their influence to tell him that this is not acceptable. This adds to our concerns that the number of lorries will increase and the other conditions won't be met. Sir James' Neston Park home was the setting for Larkrise to Candleford between 2008 and 2011, which saw the dramatic lives of late Victorian village folk. A fake high street was constructed among some farm buildings on the estate to represent Candleford, before the BBC programme was controversially ended last year. He won permission from Wiltshire Council to re-open the old mine, which has lain dormant for 52 years, for Somerset company Ham and Doulting stone. Work at Park Lane quarry, an underground stone mine on the estate, finished in the early 1960s, but permission to use it as a mine still lasts for another 30 years. There is currently a one-mile route along Atworth Lane which would lead the lorries directly to the nearest main road, the A365 to Bath. But Sir James has chosen to construct a new kilometre-long track across five fields which would force the lorries to take a five mile route back to the same spot on the A365. The new route has caused uproar in the neighbouring villages Leafield, Gastard, Whitley Shaw, and Atworth which the lorries will pass through. More than 400 disgruntled locals submitted a petition to Sir James at Neston Park, outlining their anger at his plans. Speaking before the decision, villager Jay Macleod said: "He's making money so we say he has a moral responsibility. When we took the petition up to Neston Park House, I met with Sir James and he bluntly said: 'well, they are not going past my house'. But Wiltshire Council's strategic plan committee gave the scheme the go-ahead on Wednesday, despite hearing Sir James had no intention of routing lorries past his home. Local councillor Dick Tonge said: "It is very, very clear that the only issue was HGVs and the route they take out. I am really disappointed that the applicant didn't go away and come back with a suggested route which is shorter to the south. So you now have HGVs going through heavily populated areas, and the pinch-points along that route are just as bad as any on the mile along Atworth Lane. The stone mine company said it was prepared to limit the number of lorries to just four movements a day and in reality it was likely to be just two. Spokesman John Salmon said: "Atworth Lane looks obvious but there are too many S-bends with stone walls there for the lorries. We've walked farmland to the east and south for an alternative, but it would either be uneconomical or involve dangerous junctions. Sir James, the fourth generation of the baronetcy of Neston Park, refused to comment following Wednesday's meeting.