Gloucestershire council starts new housing plan

A new housing plan for Stroud has been started by the town's district council after its last one, which took more than five years to develop, failed to be approved.

Called a Local Plan, the document sets out where new homes could be built, and crucially identifies which places should be protected from development over the next two decades.

A consultation asking residents for feedback on the early stages of the blueprint will close this weekend.

A Stroud District Council (SDC) spokesperson said it is "at the very beginning" of drafting the new plan, and no decisions yet made about where new homes could be built.

Work on the district's last Local Plan started more than half a decade ago, but despite a number of submissions to central government it was rejected three times by planning inspectors.

National planners repeatedly raised concerns with the number of homes earmarked for the areas around Berkeley and Sharpness and the pressure this would put on junctions 12 and 14 of the M5.

Now the authority has decided to create a new plan.

This is partly in response to changes brought in by the Labour government to speed up the development and roll out of local plans.

In reality much of the existing work will be transferred to the new document.

Shoppers in Stroud High Street had mixed views on the prospect of more development in the district.

Caroline Molloy said she would like to see more homes built.

"We do need more homes and less second homes," she added.

"I see people living in vans around a lot and I really worry if young people can't afford to live here it's going to become a really boring place in the end."

But Luna Aznal-Bowker, who works for Gifford Circus and lives in a wagon, believes there are alternatives to building new homes.

"The answer isn't necessarily just building more, it's refurbishing things so that people can afford them," she added.

"I think that development in many cases just serves one per cent of the population."

Christiane Paton agreed and said she wants planners to "use what we've got" when it comes to housing.

"I don't think Stroud does [need more housing], but it could benefit from updating existing housing and making that available," she added.

"I've seen the house prices are quite expensive [here] for first-time buyers in particular, so maybe there could be some support there. "

SDC has a target of building 846 a year over the next two decades.

Sites outlined in the consultation include Kingswood, Cam and around junction 13 of the M5.

A council spokesperson said the areas only include those put forward by "landowners, developers and other interested parties" and it doesn't mean they will be kept in the final version of the plan.

"All submitted sites will be subject to detailed assessment through the plan-making process, including evidence base studies, sustainability appraisal, infrastructure capacity assessments and discussions with landowners," they added.

Forest of Dean District Council is in a similar situation to Stroud and has decided to abandon its current plan to start the new fast-track version.

Both authorities will be keen to pass their plans before 2028, when the county council and six districts will be replaced by a single council for Gloucestershire.

If approved, the current local plans will be taken up by the new authority. If they fail to pass, developers will have much more scope to submit applications for areas which might otherwise have been protected.

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