Forest Green Rovers wooden football stadium: MP backs call-in request

Stroud's MP has backed calls for a controversial application for a new wooden football stadium to be called-in after planning consent was approved.

Last week Stroud District Council approved outline plans for a new stadium for Forest Green Rovers FC, next to junction 13 of the M5. 

Conservative MP Siobhan Baillie said an "independent assessment" was needed.

Critics say it is not part of the local plan and the club's current home in Nailsworth will suffer economically.

Ms Baillie said the request to call-in the application was made by "a significant number of local organisations and people", including nearby town and village councils.

"I also believe an independent assessment of the application is the best way to proceed," she said.

"There is no question that the proposal is controversial and that it worries as many people as it delights."

A call-in is when the power to decide a planning application is taken away from the local authority, and an inspector is appointed to carry out an inquiry into the proposal.

A spokesperson for the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government confirmed that he was "considering a request to call in the planning application".

Ms Baillie said there was "no question" the proposed stadium was controversial

In June, the district council rejected plans for the new proposed stadium amid concerns over noise, traffic, and impact on landscape - views also shared by Eastington Parish Council.

Forest Green Rovers then submitted a second slightly different application and appealed the original decision.

The second application was given outline planning permission last week.

Forest Green Rovers have been asked for a comment.