By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
Stroud District Council may have to go back to the drawing board as inspectors have recommended they withdraw their “flawed” development blueprint for more than 12,000 homes amid concerns over M5 junction capacity.
Inspectors first raised serious concerns in 2023 over the viability of the district’s draft local plan due to the need to upgrade junctions 12 and 14 to accommodate the expected growth.
The document aims to set out future strategic development and details the levels and types of growth planned for the area until 2040. It also details where new housing should be built.
And the council says it helps address a key Government challenge to find suitable sites for 630 new homes per year and this housing target is expected to rise further still.
However, council chiefs are now assessing options for a new way forward after planning inspectors recommended the blueprint be withdrawn from the examination in public process.
This comes after the inspectors said that two issues can’t be resolved within the timeframe of the local plan examination.
These issues are related to capacity of Junctions 12 and 14 of the M5, and transport infrastructure for a proposed settlement at Sharpness.
Conservative opposition councillors have blasted council leaders over the situation and say the authority cannot afford to waste any more money.
The Tories say they have consistently opposed the plan while it has been promoted by a succession of joint Green, Labour and Liberal Democrat administrations. They say it has now reached what should be a final reckoning and the verdict is damning.
Inspectors have exposed the folly of selecting unsustainable sites reliant upon delivery of expensive new road services, bridges, motorway junctions and public transport without an associated explanation of how they will be funded or could be delivered within required timescales, the Conservatives say.
Group leader Lindsey Green (C, Berkeley Vale) said: “Current draft local plan locations, reliant as they are on a rebuilding of the motorway network and delivery of railways that exist only in the imagination of clever land agents and corporate landowners, have been tested to destruction and failed.
“It is now time, at this very late stage, to finally acknowledge what Conservatives have been saying for a long time. A rethink is required.
“Common sense must prevail now and we must get on with producing a new plan that provides homes in the right places with the right infrastructure, as we cannot afford to be in this position again.”
Labour’s group leader Terry Cook (L, Dursley) said he was very disappointed by the outcome.
He said his group, which also sits in opposition, is assessing the situation and considering what is the best course of action to meet the needs of Stroud residents.
While Green leaders at Ebley Mill say they contest some of the claims made by the inspectors and believe these need to be addressed.
“It’s enormously disappointing that the huge amount of work by Stroud District Council with partners to accommodate the Inspectors’ concerns has been effectively dismissed,” said environment committee chairman Chloe Turner (G, Minchinhampton).
“It is essential that we continue our work to develop and adopt a new local plan as this is the only way to secure the level of infrastructure that our current and future residents in the district need, in road and rail transport, schools, green spaces and utilities.
“Given the much higher housing targets ahead, it is now more important than ever that we commit to this strategic planning work to manage the impacts of new housing.
“We are assessing all the options to find a way forward, so that our district continues to have a strong local plan.
“This is not an issue facing only SDC but many other councils too – Government sets us challenging homebuilding targets and we have a draft local plan to meet that challenge.
“But we do not have enough influence over motorway junctions and national infrastructure.”
She added that it is important to note that the council continues to have an adopted local plan, which has been the basis for determining planning applications since its adoption in 2015.
This means that the council still has a strong basis for refusing unsuitable development, protecting the environment and ensuring vital infrastructure is still delivered alongside new homes and jobs.
The council is preparing a detailed technical response to the inspectors, which will be shared on the council’s website in due course.