Gloucestershire could get 40,000 new homes by 2031

Plans to build up to 40,000 new homes in northern Gloucestershire over the next 20 years are to be published.

Several options are being looked at to meet a rise in population, especially around Cheltenham and Gloucester.

The proposals, produced by Gloucester City, Cheltenham Borough and Tewkesbury Borough councils, are to be published in December ahead of public comment.

Under the Localism Bill local authorities rather than government will decide where the homes will go.

Housing projections produced by Conservative-controlled Gloucestershire County Council suggest there will be an increase in population in the northern part of the county of about 45,000 over the next 20 years.

Details of the joint planning document are due to be published on the councils' websites.

The official consultation takes place between 13 December and 12 February.

The final document is not expected to be signed off and sent to government until 2014.

Elsewhere in the county, plans for 6,000 new homes in the Forest of Dean have been sent to the government to examine and these could be signed off by the end of next year.

Cotswold District Council is also drawing up plans for new new housing, with options set to be put forward in 2012.