- Conservative county council says no problem with traffic
- Lib Dems win environmental concessions & cycle route
- .. and bid to build on Local Green Space defeated
Conservative ministers finally ruled in February that Miller Homes can build 350 new homes on the large greenfield site next to the Shurdington Road. The decision was taken by Dorset Tory MP & junior minister Simon Hoare on behalf of Michael Gove. The scheme was initially rejected by Cheltenham because it didn’t provide enough green energy. Miller later conceded EV charging points, solar panels and air source heat pumps throughout.
At the appeal hearing last summer, I argued that the sheer number of houses should be reduced given how many are already being built in Leckhampton. This would also have eased likely traffic pressure and preserved more green space.
But ministers were persuaded by the highways authority, Conservative-run Gloucestershire County Council, that there would “not be an unacceptable impact on highway safety or a severe impact on congestion” -a conclusion which was greeted with disbelief locally.
The county said improvements to the Moorend Park Road junction would help but couldn’t explain how or when they would happen. The planning inspector advising ministers said “nothing substantive was forthcoming at the hearing” but somehow accepted plans were “in hand”. Ministers agreed.
- Renewable energy and EV charging points throughout.
- A cycle route through the estate will connect the High School to Merlin Way and Moorend beyond, avoiding the Shurdington Road.
- Miller promise to preserve and open up the line of Hatherley Brook and protect many trees and hedgerows, claiming a 14% net gain in biodiversity, above national targets.
It does mean 350 new homes and thanks to Lib Dem-led Cheltenham’s tough local policy, 40% will be affordable. The scheme also respects the boundary of the designated Local Green Space (see map ). And Max Wilkinson and I and the Lib Dem council did win a series of environmental concessions:
You may wonder how Conservative ministers in London end up taking such important local decisions. The answer is that we have a ridiculously centralised planning system in the UK.
In better news, a smaller developer’s bid to build on the protected Local Green Space was rejected by Cheltenham Borough Council. Cheltenham designated 26 hectares of the Leckhampton Fields as protected Local Green Space in 2020, alongside planning for new homes like the Miller development. After logging more than 30 local objections, the council rejected the planning application for six houses next to Leckhampton Farm Court, citing the Local Green Space policy. Had this application been allowed it might have put all the remaining Local Green Space at risk. The landowner can still appeal and Redrow managed to win permission at appeal for 30 new houses on a nearby orchard site last year but this latest site has the much stronger LGS protection in place so the developer’s chance of a successful appeal is very slim indeed.