One of the main principles of the JCS is to focus development in and around the edges of Gloucester and Cheltenham’s urban area. This is contrary to what many people said should happen in last year’s Issues and Key Questions consultation where people said they wanted the fields around the edge of Cheltenham protected. This is a real problem for Leckhampton and the site west of Farm Lane which is within Tewkesburys boundary. The JCS has allocated land at Leckhampton for 1,300 houses and land alongside Farm lane is allocated for 350.
In a recent debate at Cheltenham Borough Council, councillors voted for the draft plans to go to consultation and this is due to begin in December for 9 weeks. It was a fairly long debate and the overriding concern of Cheltenham councillors is to try and protect the green fields and green belt around the town from development. It is a difficult situation for us as Tewkesbury Borough Councils administrative boundary comes up very close to Cheltenham’s urban area.
Given our desire to protect the fields around the town from development which seems fundamentally in opposition to the JCS it would be tempting to suggest that deferring the JCS or not voting for it to go to consultation might be the best option.
However, that would still leave Leckhampton vulnerable because developers could still put in a planning application to build on fields here and even if this was refused by planning committee we would be very vulnerable to losing an appeal. This is because councils need to show they understand what housing is needed and to show they are planning for where it should go.
The most important thing now is that residents and councillors and all interested parties get involved in responding to the consultation and making a case as to why the wholesale development of the fields in Leckhampton is not acceptable. Importantly a recent review of the Green Belt identified the site West of Farm Lane as a suitable candidate for inclusion in the Green Belt but this has not happened and it is allocated for 350 houses.
Other points which need to be challenged are the population growth predications, the number of additional houses needed as a result of this and the principle of focussing growth around the edge of Cheltenham and Gloucester rather than dispersing it throughout the JCS area.
For more information please feel free to contact me or visit the JCS website http://www.gct-jcs.org/
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