Alarm at planned new town just over border

A Herefordshire town council has “serious concerns” about a new town of 3,500 houses planned for just over the county border.

Forest of Dean District Council in Gloucestershire is taking views on creating “Glynchbrook” by junction 2 of the M50, in response to high new housing targets set by the Government.

Ledbury, five miles to the northwest, would be the nearest settlement of any size.

At a recent meeting, the town council agreed to formally object to the plans, saying they “would have significant and potentially harmful impacts on the town and its surrounding area”.

Residents of the new settlement “would rely heavily” upon Ledbury for shopping, health care, education, employment and use of its railway station, on top of the “large-scale housing growth” which the town itself is undergoing, the councillors’ submission points out.

And “given the rural context of the site and the limited public transport options”, this would likely mean more road traffic and hence congestion in and around Ledbury.

Yet as it would lie outside of Herefordshire, it was not clear that contributions for the developer to improve local infrastructure would be spent across the county boundary.

There would also be “possible negative impacts on the character of the landscape and the setting of Ledbury”, councillors said.

Their submission claims the scheme, to create what would amount to a town larger than Bromyard, is “developer- and landowner-led”, with “no evidence (of) strategic analysis and thought leadership” from authorities to assess the site’s suitability.

And there was “limited evidence” of the duty to cooperate with neighbouring authorities which is written into national planning guidance, it added.

A consultation website on the proposed new “village” says it “presents a unique opportunity to secure investment to deliver a balanced community”, which “can support and integrate with existing local communities”.

The nearby villages of Redmarley d’Abitot, Playley Green, Lowbands and Pendock “are physically detached from the proposal site”, it points out.

But a meeting in Redmarley last month drew around 200 residents largely opposed to the plan, which they urged the district council to drop.