ON the ongoing row about who is to blame for the failure of Stroud District Council to adopt a local plan.

Posted by Phyllus Jones: Closing the barn door after the horse has escaped. I now live far away but lived in Cashes Green in the 1950s. An idyllic place to live. Now row upon row of houses almost up to Randwick. Plans should have been in place decades ago to stop the endless urban sprawl around Stroud. Still time but very very late in the day.

Posted by jaytee8937: The core strategy could and should be far more advanced than it is. The council has been advised at every stage by their planning officers and guidance from the office of the Secretary of State but they still persisted in putting forward a document that the majority of individuals in the planning and development industry knew would not stand up to scrutiny. Over a year ago the Secretary of State office advised that to include a reserve site to bolster numbers was a good idea. The council did not.

Posted by joyus1uk: Interesting comments jaytee8937 but in 2012 the Tory administration scuttled out of office in Stroud district and on the back of gains from a democratic election a new administration took over. True to their manifesto the Labour grouping implemented their policy of dispersal.

DCLG and the NPPF purport to be running a “locally determined policy”. In truth we have planning policy being led by QCs working for major developers and speculators out to make profit from building houses. They are not concerned with solving a housing shortage they want profit and a return on the donations given to the Tory party before the 2010 election. The new permissions will not be built on for many years. The houses will not be sold at low prices but the market price at the time. Stroud has outstanding permissions for 4,000 houses but these are not being started. Why? Because the profit is not there.