(Brian 48nav - as one who has travelled the A303 since before the Andover bypass was built (no, not by stagecoach!), I agree that the road has been improved somewhat since the early 1970s. The joys of chugging along through Sparkford, Wincanton, Mere, Wylye, Amesbury, Andover to the A30, then the Basingstoke by-pass, Hook and Hartley Wintney, Bagshot and past Blackbushe airport to Camberley, Bagshot, past Virginia Water, then the Egham and Staines by-passes and finally to London Airport - it took about 3 hrs from home to LAP, whereas now it would be nearer 2 if the roads weren't so crowded.... But there was usually some flying to be seen at Thruxton, RAF Andover and Blackbushe! However, the 303 will never be the main road to the south-west until someone has the guts to sort out how to bypass Stonehenge - and to dual the road from the A345 roundabout to the Mere by-pass and from the Hazelgrove roundabout to the M5 at Exeter! Really it should be motorway standard all the way from the M3. Sadly, the tree-huggers block any attempts to improve Britain's roads though - as witness the dreadful A40 from the M5 at Cheltenham to the M40 at Oxford which by now should be at least a dual carriageway, if not a motorway.)
As regards the cost of housing near Brize, it is true that the local rental market has been grossly distorted by MoD's failure to provide sufficient on-base housing. The pre-fabs which were supposed to have a 10 year life in 1965-ish are still there and the housing programme won't be complete for at least 5 years. So rental prices have risen by 30% in some sectors; fine for the local Rachmans, but causing great problems for the less well-off hereabouts.
No matter what Uncle Norm might say, improving Carterton is a bit like deciding to protect the virtue of Joan Collins - a great idea but about 60 years too late! Still, the Cartoontown inmates will soon be getting such top quality supermarkets as Morrisons and Aldi...
Which should improve things for victims of the shotgun wedding between Lyneham and Brize a little.