Masterplan for controversial new town of 1,350 homes west of Stonehouse gets green light

The development will see the creation of a series of interlinked neighbourhoods between Stonehouse and Eastington, stretching north and west from Oldends to the hamlets of Nupend and Nastend.

With plans for up to 1,350 homes built over 98 hectares it is almost twice the size of the largest single development in the district.

Stroud District Council’s development control committee approved the outline application at a meeting on Tuesday night after three and a half hours of debate, voting by eight in favour to two against.

This decision, which was recommended by planning officers, will now effectively see the creation of a new town a few miles from Stroud.

The land was one of many earmarked for housing in Stroud’s recently adopted Local Plan and will be developed by Robert Hitchins Ltd and Redrow Homes Ltd.

A spokesman for Robert Hitchins welcomed the decision, saying: “We know this development has been controversial and we appreciate the difficult decisions which Stroud District Councillors have had to make in reaching this point. 

“We acknowledge that the people of Stroud want a scheme of the utmost integrity and quality – and so do we. 

“We therefore look forward to working closely with the council and with the local community to ensure that this development will be a real asset of which we can all be proud.”

The new town will include a new primary school, children’s play area, open spaces for recreation, a sport pavilion and new parking, footpaths and cycle lanes.

A new local hub will also see the creation of shops, utilities, a community hall and a health centre.

The 1,350 homes will be spread out in patches and include a mix of sizes, designs and tenures, with 30 per cent available as affordable housing.

Nine hectares of employment land will also be made available as well as new main roads from Grove Lane, Oldends Lane and Brunel Way. This includes proposals to widen roundabouts and rework the A419 to help ease congestion.

Construction begins in 2017 and runs until 2025, with the local centre coming in 2019 and the school in 2020.

Conservative councillor Hayden Jones (Severn) who voted in favour of the motion, said he was proud of the primarily positive message had come out of the meeting.

“I think the council did the right thing for Stonehouse and for the district,” he said.

“There were a number of hugely positive things that came out of the meeting.

“400 affordable homes accommodating up to 1000 people is great news, as are the plans for a new primary school, health centre and improvements to the A419.

“I think the developers have been very open about their plans and we look forward to working with them over the coming months to hammer out some of the existing issues.

“There are some concerns we have to keep an eye on but overall we are in a strong position to achieve a scheme we can all be proud of.”

But councillors remained concerned about the impact of the development on existing communities, particularly the new town’s links with Stonehouse.

Highlighting issues of connectivity, they warned of a ‘fragmented’ estate cut off from existing communities due to a railway line.

Cllr Tom Williams (Labour and Co-operative / Cainscross) said he was ‘disappointed’ by the decision.

"I fully accept this site has been allocated for housing in Stroud’s 2015 Local Plan. We all agreed this was the best place for it.

“But it’s a great shame this new community will end as an isolated estate instead of a supportive extension of Stonehouse.”

He had called for the council to fully consider issues such as landscape design, buffer zones between existing communities and traffic mitigation at this first stage of the application.

Cllr Williams added: “I think the development will suffer because of our failure to properly consider these fundamental issues at this point.”

Decisions on these concerns and others like external building design and public spaces will be made by planners at later steps of the project.

A number of representatives from parish and town councils also spoke out against the plans.

Eastington Parish Council said in a statement that it was disappointed that Stroud District Council ‘didn’t taken the opportunity to resolve connectivity and transport issues before approving application.’

“We will be aiming to work closely with the developers and SDC to ensure the best possible outcome for the parish,” it added.

Eastington Parish Council, Stonehouse Town Council, Standish Parish Council and Whitminster Parish Council had all objected.