PEOPLE living in Berkeley, Sharpness and the surrounding villages have been voicing their concerns about plans which could see thousands of new homes built in the area.

More than 200 people joined with parish, district and county councillors at two residents’ meetings held to discuss the proposals, which form part of Stroud District Council’s review of its Local Plan, the blueprint for how it will meet housing needs over the next 20 years.

“Most people agreed that, as there was a national housing shortage, there should be some new homes built in the area, but they felt any development should be proportionate to the size of the existing town and villages,” said Neil Leighton, a member of the residents’ group.

“If the proposals get the go ahead, developers could create a new settlement which, in terms of the number of households, will be approximately three times the size of Berkeley.

"Under the plans, up to 2,400 homes could be built on farmland and countryside in an area which stretches from the north of Berkeley, through Sharpness and Newtown, Wanswell, Brookend and up to Hinton.

"There are also proposals for up to 120 homes on farmland just outside Berkeley, 300 in Sharpness Docks and 70 on land at the Focus school in Wanswell."

Residents at the two meetings – at Sharpness village hall and the Berkeley Arms in Berkeley – were also told about plans put forward by a development consortium for a ‘garden settlement’, which could see the number of new homes in the area reach 5,000.

Mr Leighton said: “Most people said they accepted the need for new homes, but they wanted sensible and sustainable levels of development.

“They felt there wasn’t the infrastructure or the jobs in this area to support the number of homes being proposed and there were concerns about the impact a development of this scale would have on existing communities, the landscape, wildlife and the environment.

“Some residents doubted that any affordable housing offered as part of the proposals would be within the reach of most people living in the area who wanted to get on the housing ladder.

“There was also scepticism that any infrastructure improvements and employment opportunities created as part of the development would be sufficient to support the number of homes being proposed.”

A Stroud District Council spokesman said: “A Government-set target of a minimum of a total of 12,800 new homes in the district by 2040 means some new developments have to be proposed in the Local Plan Emerging Strategy. If the target is not met Stroud District Council could lose control to central government, of where development will be.

“A new, sustainable settlement for Berkeley and Sharpness would provide for a transformational level of new services and facilities for the local area.

“We estimate there are currently 961 dwellings in Berkeley. The Emerging Strategy allocates 2,400 dwellings for Sharpness and 120 dwellings for Berkeley, a total of 2,520 dwellings which is 2.6 times the size of Berkeley.”

Comment on the plans via: stroud.gov.uk/localplanreview by Friday, January 18.