Stroud District Council is stuck in the middle between Government home-building targets, transport infrastructure development and the planning system in trying to get its Draft Local Plan approved.
The Council is now actively assessing options for a way forward for its Draft Local Plan, after Planning Inspectors recommended it be withdrawn from the Examination in Public process.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.
The Local Plan is the blueprint for development and maps out growth for the district until 2040. It helps address a key Government challenge to find suitable sites for 630 new homes per year and this housing target will rise further still.
The Council welcomes the Planning Inspectors’ recognition of all the work with other authorities on the transport investment that will be needed to support new housing and development. But the Council contests some claims made by the Inspectors and believes 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 SDC Environment Committee Chair, Chloe Turner. “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.
