The landscape of the horse was threatened in 2013 when Wiltshire Council revealed plans for a potential three-lane bypass that would run within half a mile of the horse, with a business park and 550 new homes on Green Belt land. Some local residents, together with many from outside the town, were against the "Swindonisation" of their corner of West Wiltshire, although many residents felt that Westbury, as the only town on the A350 without a bypass and whose medieval heart was blighted by pollution and HGVs needed a bypass.