Tetbury councillor's fears over new 50 home development

Last week Cotswold District Council's (CDC) planning committee approved Bovis Homes' application to build the housing complex on green space at Quercus Park in Quercus Road, which is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Bovis Homes had promised to install a footpath from the site to Tetbury, running along Cirencester Road, in its initial outline plans for the development, but there were no details on this in the full application.

But Cllr Stephen Hirst, a member of CDC and Tetbury Town Council, believes the scheme should have been rejected.

He said: “It is a very isolated site. If you are expecting people to get to Tetbury they are out on a limb – even if pavements are put there.”

Commenting on the lack of detail on pavements, he said: “I think the committee should have all the papers there which give them all the information to make the decision.”

Cllr Hirst is concerned that traffic from the complex will be routed along Cirencester Road instead of the Quercus Road roundabout, which was created to handle traffic from the Quercus Park site. He believes this will cause congestion.

A spokesman for Bovis Homes said that the issues about pavements and congestion were discussed at the planning committee meeting and will be addressed.

He said: “A footpath connection is one of the conditions of the outline planning consent while the plans for vehicular access to and from the location have been the subject of extensive discussion and consideration, have been approved by the planning inspector and have the support of Gloucestershire County Highways.

"We’re proud to be building in Tetbury at Quercus Grange and we look forward to working with the community as we deliver these attractive new family homes in this great location. There has been a huge amount of interest in the properties with almost 200 buyers registering with us at this early stage, and we are already taking reservations off-plan.”