New Local Plan Consultation

Stroud District Council has begun a 6-week public consultation on the early scoping of the new Local Plan 📋, which will guide growth in the district over the next 15–20 years.

So, to kick off this scoping process I attended one of the workshops for the South Cluster of the district to discuss themes in detail. The event was hosted at the Sub Rooms in Stroud 🏛️. There were representatives from the Town and Parish councils in the south of the district as well as a few District Councillors.

The purpose was to gather views on the district's main priorities, key challenges, and the overall approach to development.

We were exploring different ways housing growth could be spread across the area 🏘️. The government is demanding that we plan for at least 846 new homes per year, which presents real challenges for the District. Curiously, the South Cluster wanted to spread the new housing towards the north of the district. :)

This stage of scoping the plan is about strategy and priorities only; no specific development sites are being proposed or decided upon at this time.

We were also looking to identify requirements for local services, transport, and community facilities 🚌⚡.

I chose to flag EV charging infrastructure ⚡ and wind power generation on the hills around Wotton (not radical apparently 🌬️) along with better bus links over to Charfield and the new train station 🚆.

How can you, as residents, get involved? 👇

Everyone is encouraged to respond online via this form. Closing date 9th August 🗓️.

Please like and share this post to raise awareness 🔄.

This is the first step in a long-term process (12–30 months) to create a plan that reflects the needs of the community 🤝.