New Tetbury GP surgery and homes given go ahead

The site will include a healthcare facility, enhanced public footpath and 27 new homes

A new GP surgery and 27 homes will be built on the outskirts of a Gloucestershire town.

Cotswold District Council will allow Stonewood Homes Ltd to develop land off Cirencester Road in Tetbury.

Planning permission was granted after more than 200 people wrote letters of support for the scheme.

Carol Paton, who would be a patient at the new surgery, said: "This really is the sole remaining site that is large enough to accommodate the surgery."

The lease of Tetbury's current Phoenix medical centre on Long Street expires in January 2025, causing some concern the town would be left without a GP surgery if permission was refused.

Mayor of Tetbury Liz Farnham said the current surgery was "a third too small" for the town's population and people had been forced to travel far away for treatments.

Ms Paton, a member of the Phoenix surgery for 40 years, added residents had been waiting for a new surgery for some time.

She said: "All the sites that would have been relevant in the town centre have been given approval for housing by Cotswold District Council over the last three or fours years."

Councillor Juliet Layton said the committee decided the benefits outweighed the harm

The decision was made by a planning committee after more than 200 people wrote letters of support for the scheme, many of them saying there was an urgent need for a new medical centre as the current one is not fit for purpose.

More than 70 residents had raised objections to the scheme, citing concerns including the loss of a picturesque greenfield site and its location outside the town's development boundary.

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust also submitted a letter to the authority earlier giving details about the proposals.

The trust said they were "committed" to ensuring patients in Tetbury had access to the primary care services they needed.

Councillor Juliet Layton said the NHS letter was "significant" and it was a "shame" they had not had it earlier as it may have sped up the process.

She said: "The committee on the whole decided that the benefit of the surgery would outweigh the harm to the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty."