'Astounded' homeowner blocked from council meeting

Mr Pascoe said his request to object to plans involving his home "without his consent" at a Tewkesbury Borough Council meeting had been "denied"

A homeowner said he was "astounded" to be blocked from speaking at a council meeting after discovering his family home of 30 years was included in plans for a new garden town.

Kevin Pascoe rejected approaches from developers Persimmon Homes and Bloor Homes to include the Uckington property he owns with his wife in the 4,115-home Elms Park development near junction 10 of the M5.

Mr Pascoe said he was "alarmed" to discover that despite this, his home was then included in the plans.

Cheryl Lester, chief planning lawyer at Tewkesbury Borough Council, said there was only one speaking slot per objector and supporter, and someone had already applied.

Planners from Tewkesbury and Cheltenham Borough Councils approved the plans, which also include a business park, a hotel, and three schools, on 29 May, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reports.

At a meeting in Cheltenham, Mr Pascoe said planning documents "directly identified" his property after telling developers in 2009 and 2015 he and his wife had "no interest" in any development of the house while they own it.

He added they repeated this stance to Tewkesbury Borough Council, who invited them to discuss development interest.

Mr Pascoe said he found out the plans were going to committee from a neighbour, a week before.

Kevin Pascoe said nobody had spoken to them about the inclusion of their home, Fairfields, in the planning committee report for Elms Park

"I obtained a copy and read through it with increasing alarm," he said.

"We realise our property is small and may be considered insignificant - the words of Bloor and Persimmon, I should say.

"But if the generators of the document before you had wanted to include it in their submission they really should have talked to us about it first.

"It is our family home and we most certainly do not consent to its inclusion. We require all references to it removed including from the label third party land."

Mr Pascoe also said he applied to speak at the planning committee in Tewkesbury but his "request was denied".

"I am astounded," he said.

Ms Lester said: "Somebody had already registered in the slot at Tewkesbury to object and obviously that was the slot that was taken," she said.

"Unfortunately, that is the situation Mr Pascoe was faced with."

Councillor Barbara Clark (LD, All Saints) said she felt bad for Mr Pascoe and asked council chiefs to consider changing the rules to allow more than one objector to speak against major developments.

"We are democratically elected to represent people and Mr Pascoe really ought to have had a chance to speak in front of his own councillors," she said.