YOUR TOWN, YOUR COUNTRYSIDE, YOU CHOOSE

A draft JOINT CORE STRATEGY (JCS) is to be prepared by Gloucester City, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Councils. It will decide our area’s planning future up until 2026. The draft has, by law, to be based on the draft South West Regional Spatial Strategy (SWRSS) even though all three Councils object to many of its policies, particularly unjustified urban extensions and incursions into the Green Belt.

An initial Public Participation Document has been produced that identifies the key issues that need to be resolved before the strategy can be produced. The consulation started on Monday 23rd November for 10 weeks. There will also be manned roadshows on this schedule:

Friday 27 November – Cheltenham Promenade – 10am to 6pm
Saturday 28 November – Cheltenham Promenade – 10am to 6pm
Monday 30 November – Quedgeley Parish Office, Gloucester – 3pm to 6pm
Tuesday 1 December – Bishops Cleeve Parish Council Office – 3pm to 8pm
Wednesday 2 December -Brockworth Community Centre – 3 pm to 8 pm
Thursday 3 December -Uckington /Swindon Village, Civil Service Sports Centre, Tewkesbury Road – 3pm to 7pm
Friday /Saturday 4 and 5 December – Unit 33 Kings Walk, Gloucester City Centre – 9am to 6pm

WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IF WE WORK TOGETHER

If we can choose and agree the best options for our area and if we can encourage a massive unified community response, the Councils will have a public mandate to resist Central Government dictat.

WE NEED EVERYONE TO RESPOND

The full “JCS Initial Public Participation Document” together with a comments form is now available online, or you will be able to order a hard copy by phone.

online: www.consult.gct-jcs.org Tel: 0800 073 1441

Responses can be submitted by e-mail or by post.

e-mail: info@gct-jcs.org
Address: Joint Core Strategy Team, Municipal Offices, Promenade, Cheltenham, GL 50 9SA

For further details of the event and a single-page summary of the key issues contact Alice:
e-mail: alice.ross@btinternet.com
Tel. 01242 529793

EVENT ORGANISED BY SAVE THE COUNTRYSIDE (www.savethecountryside.org.uk)
AFFILIATED TO SAVE OUR GREEN SPACES (www.saveourgreenspaces.org)

SUPPORTED BY LEGLAG (Leckhampton Green Land Action Group) (www.leglag.org.uk)

CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) (www.cpre.co.uk)

SUMMARY OF KEY JOINT CORE STRATEGY KEY ISSUE POINTS FOR CONSULTATION

Please write to the Joint Core Strategy team, you can use the points below or add your own.
Please also include any alternative suggestions you may have for building.

Alternative you may wish to fill in the attached simple form.

FACTS: 34200 total new houses as dictated by the SWRSS.

  • 11500 in Gloucester City,
  • 8100 in Cheltenham,
  • 14600 inTewkesbury Borough (which surrounds much of Cheltenham)

11300 of this total are in 5 Sustainable urban extensions (SUEs)

  1. North of Gloucester Longford/Innsworth – 2500 in the Green Belt;
  2. NW Cheltenham Swindon Village – 5000 in the Green Belt;
  3. S of Cheltenham Leckhampton/ Shurdington – 1300 in Greenfield & Green Belt;
  4. N of Bishops Cleeve – 1000 on Greenfields next to the Cotswolds Area of outstanding Natural Beauty;
  5. Land N of Brockworth – 1500 in the Green Belt.

POINTS TO MAKE

1. Flooding risk: Adopt a more precautionary approach.

  • Adopt Tewkesbury’s Supplementary Planning Document on Flooding across the JCS Area.
  • Take into account not only fluvial flooding information but pluvial too.

2. Regenerate existing town centres.

  • Protect and enhance the historic environment, distinctive townscape, attractive landscapes, and farmland.
  • Fill empty homes first.
  • Regenerate brownfield sites next (but not garden land) at liveable densities,
  • Only develop carefully chosen Greenfield or Green Belt sites as a last resort after brownfield sites are filled.
  • Improve Public transport.

3. Affordable housing

  • Provide new homes that meet local needs but not necessarily the RSS allocations.
  • Build more affordable homes. Minimum 40% or higher where needed locally

4. Climate change measures

  • Adopt a measured proactive approach with renewable energy initiatives