Deferral for 320 homes plan in Forest of Dean

A decision on plans to build up to 320 homes in a Gloucestershire town has been pushed back.

Robert Hitchins Limited wants permission from Forest of Dean District Council to develop the land off Lydney Bypass and Naas Lane.

Outline proposals include the creation of a neighbourhood centre, employment land, open space and a new road from the bypass to the 51.1-acre site, which is currently used for farming.

Consultants working on the scheme say the homes would be mainly two-storey buildings with a few of two and a half and three storeys in height.

The plan is to create a single point of access to the A48 from the north east of the site with a roundabout.

The scheme also includes a new road that projects westward from the new roundabout on the A48 and then splits to the north and south.

As it extends to the south, it would form the main street, which is proposed to be a bus route and extends to the southern boundary of the site at the point where it meets Naas Lane.

The plan also shows a point of connection into the land to the north.

Council officers had recommended approving the scheme, but district councillors voted last week to defer the proposals to visit the site before making a decision.

Lydney East ward councillors Alan Preest (Con), James Bevan (Independent Alliance) and Claire Vaughan (The Progressive Independents) raised concerns over potential flooding and sewage issues in Lydney and called for the scheme to be deferred for a site visit.

Many planning committee councillors agreed and said they were uneasy about voting on the plans without seeing the site.

Councillor Julia Gooch (The Progressive Independents, Newent & Taynton), who proposed deferral, said: “This is the biggest application this authority has seen in several years and it’s inconceivable that members have not yet seen this site.”

Cllr Simon Phelps (Ind, Westbury on Severn) said he was mystified that the proposals were before the planning committee without a prior site visit given its size and local concerns.

The committee is now expect to consider the proposals in December following a site visit.