Whaddon Grange plan submitted to Stroud Council

The south of the site is bounded by the M5 motorway and Naas Lane

Major plans to develop 320 acres (129 hectares) of land near a village have been submitted for approval.

Stroud District Council will consider the proposal by Taylor Wimpey UK Ltd to build on the land at Whaddon, near Gloucester.

The plans include building up to 2,550 homes, a primary and secondary school, community centre, and transport hub.

Local residents say they are concerned the current roads will not be able to cope with the extra development.

The Whaddon Grange site comprises large agricultural fields, subdivided with stock fencing and sparse hedgerows.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting service (LDRS), the proposal includes changes to parking, surrounding drainage infrastructure, and supporting infrastructure and utilities.

The development would also require creating new access points from the A4173 and another new access point from Naas Lane.

'Really damaging'

Last year, MP Richard Graham voiced his concerns and said the scheme should be opposed with "full force" if they ever came forward.

"We are not nimbys," he said at the time. "I've supported a whole bundle of planning applications but that one would be really damaging to all the traffic systems."

'Nimby's' refers to the acronym 'Not in My Back Yard', a characterisation of residents' opposition to proposed developments in their local area.

"The traffic clog up around St Barnabas would be massive," Mr Graham continued.

"There are other problems as well. The inspector has said you cannot think about developing there until junction 12 of the M5 is improved," he added.

Taylor Wimpey says the proposed site forms most of the land at Whaddon strategic allocation site.

"The site has been promoted for a number of years as an inherently sustainable location to deliver housing growth within the local housing market area," they said in the proposal's cover letter.

"As such, the application is responding to an existing unmet housing need, as well as the future needs of the wider Stroud/Gloucester housing market area."

A public consultation is running until 21 February, with councillors due to consider the planning application by 26 March.