Calls for council to stick to road building plans at Cinderford Northern Quarter

Civic leaders in Cinderford are calling on district chiefs to stick to plans for a road providing better access to the town’s Northern Quarter development.

Forest of Dean District Council wants to change its planning permission for the Cinderford Northern Quarter to allow it to develop the site before the proposed spine road which would connect to the A4136 is completed.

The £100m regeneration project, which has been decades in the making, has faced delays over planning and legal challenges.

The first phase of the spine road and a new campus for Gloucestershire College were completed in 2018 – but construction work for the second phase has not yet begun.

And Cinderford Regeneration Board Chairman Graham Morgan says the town desperately needs a new road to connect to the industrial estates.

He is calling on the district council to commit to building a road so that heavy traffic can bypass the residential areas in Steam Mills.

“All we are asking for is for them to finish the job that they started,” Councillor Morgan said.

“I don’t care where they take the road to but it needs to be finished.

“Currently the HGV traffic has to go through Steam Mills and it’s horrendous for people who live along there.

“We aren’t asking for much, all we want is for them to sweep the road back towards the A4151 by the bowling green and call it a day.

“We were left with a road to nowhere in the 1980s and we don’t want to be left with a road to nowhere again.

He said he never asked for the road to go around Northern United Colliery.

“That was the Homes and Communities Agency and the Regional Development Agency before them,” he said.

“All we asked them to do is get to the A4136 by the quickest route possible or if they can’t do that go to the A4151 opposite the bowling green.

“Lorries can then come down there and peel off towards the industrial areas instead of trundling through Steam Mills.”

Cllr Morgan says more employment land is vital for the Forest as many local residents have to travel out of the district for work.

A council spokesperson said the current review into the Cinderford Northern Quarter will be hearing from a wide range of interested parties with different views on what will be best for the future of the area.

“The comments and suggestions of organisations and individuals taking part will be considered and assessed as part of the review before any decisions are taken or recommendations put forward by the Council’s Cabinet,” the spokesperson said.

By Carmelo Garcia - Local Democracy Reporter