A planning inspector will decide whether almost 600 homes, a primary school, community hub and shops can be built on high-quality farmland on the edge of Thornbury.
Developers Barwood Development Securities has launched an appeal after South Gloucestershire Council failed to determine its “speculative” application in time, which took the decision out of the local authority’s hands.
But the council has pledged to fight the appeal at a public inquiry, starting in March, after a planning committee resolved on Thursday, January 20, that it would have refused consent had it still had the power to do so.
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A total of 134 residents, Thornbury Town Council and Oldbury-on-Severn Parish Council objected to the outline proposals for two- and three-storey houses, including 35 per cent affordable, west of Park Farm, Butt Lane.
They said permission had been granted for about 1,400 homes in the immediate area and this would take it up to 2,000 but that local services, such as schools and GP services, had not yet caught up.
A planning officer told the meeting: “The proposed site goes beyond the level of development anticipated for Thornbury and it is outside the settlement boundary and in the countryside. This proposal is contrary to the policies of the development plan and is a speculative development.”
She said the setting of Thornbury Castle and a church, both Grade I-listed, would be harmed along with other heritage assets and that most of the 36-hectare location in open countryside was classed as “best and most versatile” agricultural land.
The officer said it was unnecessary to develop the fields because the council had a healthy land supply of 6.14 years, above the five-year threshold.
“The council is opposed to this application. There is less than substantial harm to the heritage assets but great weight needs to be given in the balance to this,” she said.
“The public benefits do not outweigh the identified harm to the listed buildings and the agricultural use. The application is recommended for refusal.”
Thornbury town councillor Chris Davies told the meeting at Kingswood civic centre: “The development would be detrimental to the town.
“The site is outside the development boundary and extends into Thornbury’s rural surroundings.
“Thornbury is a market town and the people of Thornbury value that fact greatly.
“We’re not an urban area, do not wish to become a dormitory town and have neither the facilities nor the transport links needed to fulfil that function.
“This development would put an intolerable pressure on the local road system which is already creaking even before all the agreed sites have been built on.”
Lib Dem ward Cllr Maggie Tyrrell said it would be a “tragedy” if the high-quality agricultural land became housing that was not actually needed.
Conservative Cllr June Bamford claimed the application process had been irregular and that a previous planning officer had produced a report last spring recommending approval but had been subsequently taken off the case.
The council denied this claim insisting nothing untoward had happened.
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