At a meeting held Thursday evening at Ebley Mill, Councillors adopted the Stroud District Local Plan, a strategic housing and employment plan which will shape the district’s future for decades to come.
“The draft plan involved some difficult choices, meaning that not everyone was going to be happy with the outcome”, said Green Councillor Simon Pickering, chair of the Stroud District Environment Committee. “It is the Great British Compromise! We should stand behind it to make the best of the building and employment opportunities it will bring to Stroud communities.”
Councillor Pickering added during the debate, “Approval of the plan is great news after nearly 6 years. I would like to thank everyone involved: officers, Councillors, members of the public, developers and their agents.”
After the meeting, Councillor Geoff Wheeler, leader of Stroud District Council, said, “The plan came into force last night as soon as we took the decision to adopt it. Fundamentally, it means that we can plan development within the district in a structured and controlled way to maximise economic growth and ensure a sustainable future for generations to come.
We’re the first council in Gloucestershire to have an up-to-date local plan in place and it will allow us to strategically plan where development should take place rather than fight off speculative applications where it shouldn’t,” said Wheeler.
In recent years councils across the country have found it difficult to defend against large housing applications in areas they did not consider suitable, when they have not had a local plan in place.
The Stroud District Local Plan, which encourages the building of at least 11,400 homes over the 25-year period between 2006 and 2031, identifies how many homes should be built and their locations. The number includes over 7,700 homes which have already been built or have planning permission and 4,200 homes to be developed on sites identified in the plan.
On average, 470 homes need to be built each year over the next 16 years to accommodate the expected needs of the district.
The Plan also supports the development of 58 hectares of employment land over the plan period to meet local job forecasts and identifies a range of new sites to meet business needs.
Planning inspector Steven Pratt, who approved the council’s plan before it was sent to Councillors for adoption, confirmed that it showed a seven year supply of housing land. This means that the council would be right to prevent further uncontrolled development in rural areas.
He also supported the council’s strategy of concentrated growth in towns, which will see valuable infrastructure and community facilities accompany any major development.
The locations and numbers of future housing development within the plan are as follows:
|
LOCATION |
NUMBER OF HOMES |
| Hunts Grove Extension | 750 |
| North East Cam | 450 |
| Sharpness | 300 |
| Stroud Valleys | 450 |
| West of Stonehouse | 1350 |
| Council Housing Programme | 150 |
| Dispersal / windfall | 750 |
| Total allocations and windfall | 4200 |