Meandered by the River Wye, the Forest of Dean is a place of sleepy villages and abundant nature – and where the clip-clop of a horse’s hoof is deemed ‘traffic pollution’.
Yet the stillness of the region is being disturbed by plans to build 3,500 homes on the foothills of the Malvern Hills, leaving local residents raging.
The plans by Zack Polanski’s Green Party-majority Forest of Dean District Council form part of the Government’s plans to build 1.5 million homes by 2029 – and against the wishes of hundreds of locals.
The State has set the council a target of building 13,000 new homes by 2045, yet protesters – formed as the United Against Glynchbrook campaign group – say the chosen location of the new settlement has been deemed ‘inadequate’ for development even by the council itself.
Local concerns have been raised over the site being located on a floodplain; miles away from civilisation with a lack of public transport; and being wedged between conservation areas and listed buildings.
Meanwhile they argue the new town of concrete – set to be where the counties of Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire meet – will completely ‘obliterate’ the heritage found within the rolling hills.
Residents also add that much better connected sites are available, but say the Green Party council chair, Andy Birch, is ‘undemocratically’ pushing the plan for the Glynchbrook site.
John Heap, 74, has lived in the hamlet of Eldersfield, Worcestershire, with his 75-year-old wife Gill for 29 years – and fears it will be ‘swamped’ if the development goes through.
John Heap has lived in the hamlet of Eldersfield, Worcestershire, with his 75-year-old wife Gill for 29 years – and fears it will be ‘swamped’ if the development goes through
‘It is ludicrous for a number of important planning and logical reasons,’ the retired obstetrician and gynaecologist tells the Daily Mail.
‘We are being dumped with it simply because one farmer in the Forest of Dean has said he is prepared to sell the land.’
This comes as a study led by the council itself concluded that the site was ‘unlikely’ to meet the needed criteria, which is said to include ‘community, education, recreational, health and retail facilities’.
The report stated the land, which sits 16.5km from Gloucester and near the Cotswolds, would ’cause landscape harm; ‘potential harm to heritage’; ‘could lead to high reliability on transport by car’; and is ‘poorly’ located.
Residents claim councillor Birch – who survived a no-confidence vote last month by one vote – said his hands have been tied by the Government, yet admitted when questioned to ‘only sending two emails’ to the Government as his ‘push back’ method.
During a meeting in January, the council said: ‘The Leader had written to central Government to challenge these numbers, but there had been no supportive response.’
Residents also raise concerns over how the countryside will fare with the onslaught of people and the cars that they drive, bringing thousands of cars on to the already congested A417, which connects Berkshire to Herefordshire.
Local resident Neil Goodall, 59, from the village Redmarley D’Abitot, Gloucestershire, tells the Mail the council’s plans to potentially choose the Glynchbrook site is ‘ludicrous’.
Local Neil Goodall, 59, from the village Redmarley D’Abitot, Gloucestershire, tells the Mail the council’s potential choice to choose Glynchbrook site is ‘ludicrous’
The site which has been allocated for the Glynchbrook development is on a floodplain and was heavily flooded after Storm Chandra
‘It is absolutely in the wrong place. I understand that houses need to be built but they shouldn’t just be thrown somewhere because it’s an easy option,’ the electrician says.
‘The A417 is at capacity already and they want to push another 21,000 vehicle movements per day on to it.
‘If the road is flooded, which it has been, all these vehicles will be going down the small country lanes, driving to Gloucester and Cheltenham.’
The Forest of Dean is prone for flooding, playing victim to Storm Chandra and its lashing of heavy rain – and specifically on the new proposed site.
‘The Glynchbrook site itself is an established floodplain. Every year it completely floods,’ Mr Heap says.
‘So where is a whole pancake of concrete for the building of 3,500 houses going to shed water? It is going to flood even worse.
‘And more than that, the sewage out of these houses is just going to end up floating in our lanes.’
The Green Party controls more than a third of the majority of the council, with 15 councillors to its allocation of 38.
Myrto Barling, who goes by Bluebell, grew up running along the country lanes that surround the village of Redmarley D’Abitot
The vote to put the Glynchbrook site forward was tied, and was opposed by Independent councillors and those representing the Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and Reform.
The Green-led council supported the plan, chosen from 10 possible sites for new towns considered by the council, along with support by Labour councillors who pushed it through.
Out of the 10 sites put forward for consideration, eight were deemed ‘unlikely’ to meet the necessary criteria.
Reform councillor Alan Preest related Glynchbrook to ‘many other issues around the country’, adding it is a ‘knee jerk rather than a common sense or logical reaction to this Government autocratic planning ideals’.
He tells the Mail: ‘The Green Party administration at Forest of Dean District Council has fallen into a trap rather than recognising their own National Planning manifesto, and more importantly listening to the people or those they purport to represent.’
Residents and councillor Preest alike argue the development forms a stark contradiction to the Green Party’s manifesto, which calls for local authorities to ‘spread small developments across their areas’ and for them to be ‘accompanied by the extra investment needed in local health and transport’.
Mr Goodall’s ‘honest opinion’ is the decision was made as the Glynchbrook site is ‘as far away from the Green councillor areas as it possible can be’.
The electrician, who has lived in the area for around four decades, continues: ‘It is right on the northern edge of the Forest of Dean. And so they are plonking it there because it’s an easy option to bang out 3,500 houses in one place.
Mr Heap said: ‘The Glynchbrook site itself is an established floodplain. Every year it completely floods. So where is a whole pancake of concrete for the building of 3,500 houses going to shed water? It is going to flood even worse.’
Local concerns have been raised over the site being located on a floodplain; miles away from civilisation with a lack of public transport; and being wedged between conservation areas and listed buildings
‘They haven’t done their due diligence. It just doesn’t stack up as a place to build a new town.’
The village of Glynchbrook is described by planning consultants Black Box Planning as ‘a sustainable new settlement’ formed through ‘co-locating homes, leisure and employment on a site served by a renewable micro energy grid’. Notably it references 3,000 homes.
The residents worry the site will replicate the ‘apocalyptic’ eco-village named Coed Darcy in Llandarcy, near Neath, South Wales.
Coined a ‘ghost village’, residents of the estate were promised 1,800 houses, a school, shops, sporting facilities and open spaces.
However only a mere 300 homes were built, while no school, shops or sports hall came to fruition.
Mr Heap explains: ‘Our great fear is that the planning goes through, the builders turn up and they will wreck the countryside and it will turn out like Coed Darcy did: not providing schools, GP surgeries, a railway station or bus routes.’
This is shared by student Myrto Barling, who goes by Bluebell. She grew up running along the county lanes, which includes navigating the flooded paths, that surround the village of Redmarley D’Abitot.
The 18-year-old, who studies at Zoology and Animal Behaviour at Bangor University, said the Glynchbrook site is ‘such a special little area of the UK’.
She added: ‘The people living there will have nowhere to go, it will impact their mental health. There will be cars everywhere and there will be no walking in the area.
‘The fact they want somewhere which is literally under water a lot is a bit silly, because if you’re going to put that much money in something needs to be certain.
‘I would not want to buy a house there as I would be so stressed that my assets get ruined.’
The public consultation for the site continues until Wednesday March 18.
A spokesperson for the Forest of Dean District Council said: ‘We recognise the concerns raised by residents and welcome their involvement in the Local Plan process.
‘The council is required by the Government to plan for a significant increase in new homes, and the emerging Local Plan sets out how we are exploring options to meet that requirement in a balanced and responsible way, to shape the long-term social, environmental, and economic wellbeing of the Forest of Dean.
‘We have raised concerns with central government about the housing numbers we have been asked to plan for and have written to seek clarification.
‘We have not received a response, and the council is therefore continuing to progress its Local Plan in line with national policy.
‘No decisions have been made on any individual site at this stage. All potential locations are being assessed against a range of evidence, including flood risk, transport and access to services, landscape and environmental impacts, and sustainability considerations.
‘This work is ongoing, and councillors will continue to consider the evidence alongside public feedback before any proposals are finalised.
‘If sites are taken forward, they would be subject to further detailed assessment and consultation, and any future development would be expected to meet all relevant national and local planning standards, as assessed through the examination process.’
Councillor Adrian Birch was contacted for comment.
