M5 junction fears Call to pull 12,600-home plan

INSPECTORS have again suggested a blueprint for 12,600 homes should be withdrawn due to capacity constraints at two M5 junctions. Stroud District Council has been working on its local plan which aims to set out future strategic development and details the levels and types of growth planned for the area until 2040.

- Carmelo GARCIA Local Democracy Reporter

The authority was asked in February by planning inspectors to withdraw their local plan amid concerns over the need to upgrade junctions 12 and 14 to accommodate the expected growth. Victoria Lucas and Yvonne Wright, the inspectors appointed to examine the local plan review, have since replied in writing to a letter from the council raising concerns over it.

They consider withdrawal of the local plan review from examination is the most appropriate way forward. Among their main concerns are the lack of identified potential funding sources for the necessary improvements needed at the M5 junctions.

"In the letter you say that funding for the M5 junction improvement schemes cannot be secured in advance of the adoption of the plan," they said in the letter dated April 9. "To be clear, at no point have we requested or suggested that the necessary funding be immediately available for SDC to spend, or even be definitively confirmed, in advance of the adoption of the plan.

"Essentially, this issue is, and always has been, about whether there is a reasonable prospect of funding being identified and available to ensure that the necessary infrastructure will be in the right place at the right time to facilitate the delivery of the relevant housing sites."

They say the identification of funding sources is crucial when considering when the improvements will be needed. The letter continues "...as we have previously stated, both schemes will be required in the early plan period to deliver the housing sites reliant on these infrastructure improvements.

"In summary, the site allocations reliant on these M5 junction improvement schemes require these junctions to be delivered within the first five years of the plan period. These schemes will cost between £240m and £330m.