By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
A political row has broken out over delays affecting plans to build 172 homes in Gloucester which could see the city lose out on £20m of Government funding.
Gloucester City Homes (GCH) bosses fear they will lose funding for their regeneration of Podsmead Estate project at Masefield Avenue.
The scheme includes 172 residential properties, along with premises for shops, businesses and community use as well as improvements to public open space.
But they are frustrated as their proposals will not be considered by the City Council’s planning committee next month and they have a deadline of March 31 set to spend the £20m allocated to them by Homes England.
GCH has reiterated their commitment to keeping the community informed throughout the planning process for the Podsmead regeneration project.
And they said Gloucester City Council (GCC) made a joint commitment to work with them, the County Council and the city’s MP in 2017 to bring positive change to Matson and Podsmead by co-ordinating resources, land, planning and community consultation.
“We have engaged extensively with GCC on the plans, including contributing to the costs of a planning officer to work within the council’s planning team.
“We are confident the plans submitted for the regeneration of Podsmead are both robust and reflective of the wishes of the Podsmead community.
“Our planning application was submitted in June 2024, and we have continued to respond promptly to all requests for additional information to aid the Council’s scrutiny of the plans.
“Following the most recent round of consultation ending at Christmas, 12 queries were shared with GCH during January which we have responded to in full and ahead of the deadline for the March planning committee.
“We hoped this would allow us to be on site before 31st March, a requirement to guarantee access to the £20 million Homes England funding. Over the last three weeks the council has made several new requests including:
A request to identify and fund improvements to open spaces away from the Podsmead development site. We have been able to identify suitable land and estimate to cost of the additional work to be at least £200,000.
A request for the Highways Authority to reconsider their original submission related to our project. This review is expected to take at least four weeks and will require a feasibility report costing approximately £40,000. It may also lead to a requirement for GCH to make further significant financial contributions towards highway infrastructure beyond the development site.
A request to revise and make changes to drainage plans on the development site. Our application already included a comprehensive drainage plan for the site, and we would have expected this issue to have been raised much earlier in the process.
“As a result, planners have advised us that our application will not be presented at the March planning committee meeting. Moreover, the additional financial requirements could affect the overall viability of the scheme, leaving the future of the redevelopment uncertain.
“We are working as hard as we can to compile the necessary information and address all the council’s new requests. We are also reviewing funding options hoping to ensure the scheme remains viable and deliverable. While we remain committed to delivering a project that will benefit the entire community, these challenges highlight the complexities involved in ensuring a successful regeneration.”
Gloucester MP Alex McIntyre is also concerned about the plans will not be considered next week and there is a risk the city could lose out on the funding for the project.
“I’ve been following the development of Gloucester City Homes’ Podsmead regeneration plans for the last few years and was really looking forward to seeing spades in the ground this March.
“It’s beyond disappointing to see that this now won’t happen, and that Gloucester City Homes will lose out on access to £20 million in funding to make this project a reality. There are hundreds of families in this city waiting for suitable social housing, and this scheme would have provided more than 100 brand new homes for social rent which are desperately needed in our city.
“Not only this, the scheme would have seen properties that are no longer fit for purpose demolished and rebuilt, providing better quality homes for Podsmead residents who deserve better quality housing.
“I’m calling on the City Council and Gloucester City Homes to meet with me and get round the table to work out how this project can move forward, for the benefit of the people of Gloucester.”
But City Council leader Jeremy Hilton (LD, Kingsholm and Wotton) said the authority has been following due process and the project is not being heard next month because of delays with planning documents.
He said there are issues over drainage, highways and public open space as well as the housing strategy.
He said they all need to be resolved so planners can make a decision on whether to recommend the scheme is approved or not.
“GCH has had seven years in which to prepare the planning application to the City Council,” he said.
“There have been a number of occasions where documentation has been late, or is late, and it is quite clear people seem to think they can lobby the council to progress a planning application quicker than can be done.
“It’s important to remember it is a quasi-judicial process when the council considers a planning application.
“And with an application as big as this one, which is 170 properties being built in Podsemad, we are going to need to make sure all of the documentation there is correct and answers all the issues so the council officers can make a recommendation to the planning committee.
“I understand GCH’s own planning advisors are the ones who have stated in email to the planning team that they do not believe they can get the documentation ready for the March 4 committee which is why it is not going to it.
“This is due to the fact they have not managed to resolve issues raised for the planning team to be able get the heads of terms and recommend it going forward to the committee
“The viability report we received only last Friday has gone to our consultants and will take three or four weeks to assess.”
Cllr Hilton said attempts have been made to “circumvent” the planning process to push it forward by making the argument that Homes England has set an arbitrary deadline date.
“If there’s an arbitrary deadline set by Homes England, the person who needs to resolve that is the City MP himself.
“He should be onto Homes England and his government ministers making it quite clear we have to go through the proper process and asking if we can have a delay in this deadline. Otherwise the funding could be withdrawn by the Government.”