New 'town' for Gloucestershire will deliver £2.5blln of investment, a £300m economic boost and 8,000 new jobs
Developers have spelt out the potential impact on Gloucestershire of plans to build 4,000-plus homes and a business park near Cheltenham, after winning a 12-year battle for the controversial scheme.
Dear readers,
Welcome to Friday’s edition of The Raikes Journal.
Wrapped up in the story that is our main lead on today’s edition was another story of potentially even greater significance to Gloucestershire.
But for the moment, we’ve focused on the news about a major development now set to go ahead to the North West of Cheltenham.
And rather than home in on the controversies and many objections that have characterised its progress through planning, we focus instead on what developers claim will be the potential impact on the county’s economy, jobs market and the wider regional economy.
As for the other story we mentioned - if you are asking what on earth can be bigger than a development that will allegedly deliver a £2.5 billion investment in Gloucestershire, a £300m economic boost and 8,000 new jobs?
You’ll have to wait until Monday to find out. Have a great weekend.
Best regards,
Andrew Merrell (editor).
For every person you refer to The Raikes Journal’s email service you get points towards a free membership allowing you to see beyond our paywalls. Please do sign up (free or otherwise), send the referral link to a friend or colleague, and help us grow.
Your briefing notes…
🛍️ Feeling we’ve perhaps got a little Cheltenham-centric of late - which is just a reflection on the bigger news stories we’ve been drawn to, and nothing more, we thought we’d tantalise Gloucestrians with this little nugget about their city. It could be about to welcome a new department store. Talks are underway and a deal could go down any day now. I’m afraid we can’t tell you any more than that at the moment, but we will spill the beans very soon. Fingers crossed.
🏗️ £20m boost for Cheltenham. Just in case you missed out latest instalment in the saga that is the potential sale of Cheltenham’s municipal offices by its borough council, we took another look at the story this week. While our earlier version has reaction from the business community, this one reveals such a deal could deliver £20 million for the local authority, money it might well then be able to invest back into the town! More here.
💷 Family IT business sold to $billion global firm: An award-winning software provider founded by a husband-and-wife team from Gloucestershire has announced its sale – to an American-headquartered firm with a turnover in excess of $1 billion. The news was revealed via county accountants Hazlewoods, which played a significant part in making the deal happen. More here.
🎾💷 Winners have been announced in the annual Grand Idea competition at the Royal Agricultural University, which aims to encourage the next generation of entrepreneurs to shine. Walking away with top prize from the Dragons’ Den-style competition, and a cheque to help make his business plan that’s all about the sport of padel a reality, was RAU rural land management student, Daniel Blacker. More here.
🏘️ Two Rivers Housing has added another non-executive director to its board. David Greenhalgh previously director of strategic asset management at Magna Housing Association (based in Dorchester) until he retired in 2022 and a former non-executive director for GreenSquareAccord. The former role saw him support the business through a significant transformation. More here.
🏗️🏘️ “Exciting plans” to build 70 homes on the former Monkscroft School site have been submitted for approval by Cheltenham Borough Council, the local authority has revealed. The proposal is for a mix of one, two, three, four and five-bedroom homes on the site, off Princess Elizabeth Way to the West of the town. More here.
The power of developing real financial leadership
The official launch of a book aimed at helping business people run their companies even better - written by experts from Gloucestershire - is fast-approaching. This is an event due to take place at Gloucester Rugby Club on June 16, where authors Stewart Barnes and Malcolm Prowle will discuss the findings of their research, and the thrust of the ideas within the book, in front of an audience of 100-plus businesspeople. Dr Barnes is best known to many as the founder and ceo of leadership development specialists QuoLux, and Prowle as professor of performance management, business, computing and social sciences at the University of Gloucestershire.
Rumours are they will be interviewed live on stage by a well-known figure from the BBC, no less. The book, Developing Financial Leadership in Small-Medium Businesses, looks at the importance of good financial leadership in decision making, and the event promises insights that will help transform how owners, directors and senior leaders approach financial leadership.
Oh, and there will be a free signed copy for everyone who attends the invite-only event.
Ideas for the weekend…
Friday…
🎶🎶🎶 The Simon & Garfunkel Story comes to Tewkesbury’s The Roses Theatre tonight from 7.30pm. Featuring the greatest hits of the duo, the show has sold out in 50 countries and enjoyed 20 headline performances in London's West End. More here.
Saturday…
🍷🎶 If you like wine and enjoy listening to your music on vinyl, this could be for you. Atelier 8, the Stow-on-the-Wold community space, is staging this event - featuring The Vinyl Shop, DJ Tim Titsworth, and wine from town’s bar, The Cellar. From 7pm to 11pm. More here.
🚵⛏️ This is your chance to work on maintaining a major Forest of Dean attraction - its ever-popular mountain bike trails. Volunteers are welcome to gather outside the Pedalabikeway Café in Cannop for 9.30am to take part. You must be over 18. 12-16-year-olds can attend if supervised by an adult. More here.
Sunday…
🍕 Pig’s Pizza Workshop in Association with Gozney, at DEYA Brewing Company, Gloucester Road, #Unit 27, Cheltenham. From noon until 4pm. All you need to know about making pizza. More here.
* The Raikes Journal is a digital magazine and community interest company whose supporters believe, like us, that journalism about Gloucestershire is worth keeping alive. Everything you read here - original stories about our county - is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne; our sponsors, Founding Members and wonderful paying subscribers.
If you upgrade to paid you’ll be part of this CIC too. We’re dedicated to championing the county, its businesses, charities, education and training providers, and to creating an even stronger community. If you upgrade to paid you’ll be able to see past the paywalls often put on our 2cnd and 3rd email editions of the week, that lock our archive after two weeks and our Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series. You’ll be able to comment on our stories too.
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New 'town' for Gloucestershire will deliver £2.5blln of investment, a £300m economic boost and 8,000 new jobs
Developers have spelt out the potential impact on Gloucestershire of plans to build 4,000-plus homes and a business park near Cheltenham, after winning a 12-year battle for the controversial scheme.
A massive “satellite town” for almost 9,000 people near Cheltenham has been given the go-ahead, with developers claiming it will deliver £2.5 billion of investment in Gloucestershire.
The controversial Elms Park development near junction 10 of the M5 was first approved by Tewkesbury borough’s planning committee yesterday morning (29 May), who described it as ‘the biggest decision they had ever had to make’.
Then shortly after that, in the afternoon, the 4,115-home Elms Park development off the A4019 Tewkesbury Road near Uckington, north west of Cheltenham, received its final stamp of approval from the planning committe at Cheltenham Borough Council.
It marks an end to a planning battle that speaks volumes for the UK’s relationship with housebuilding, pitting members of the community against developers, with local authorities in the middle as hero, villain, judge and jury.
Some residents fear the scheme, which will roll out over 20 years, will bring a huge increase in traffic and put unbearable strain on public services and amenities.
The house builders point instead to the investment they will make to tackle all of the above, claiming the development will deliver £300 million a year into the sub-regional economy and create more than 8,000 jobs, including 30 apprenticeships a year during construction.
Alongside the houses there will also be a 10-hectare business park, new schools, healthcare facilities and a transport hub.
There were more than 100 objections to the scheme and even an eleventh-hour intervention from Gloucestershire police and crime commissioner Chris Nelson, who called for the plans to be postponed due to a lack of agreed funding for a new police station.
But much to the delight of the Elms Park Consortium, led by developers Bloor Homes and Persimmon Homes, both planning committees gave the go-ahead.
Rob White, agent for the applicant, said the joint core strategy established North West Cheltenham as a fundamental strategic allocation, adding that the development would help secure much-needed housing for the region, with a particular focus on providing affordable homes.
“The principle of development is consistent with the development time,” said White.
“The recommendation for approval is an especially important step on the way to delivering this plan-led new community.
“The housebuilders have committed over £10 million to get to this point.”
He said the development represented a £2.5 billion pound investment in the area.
“It will contribute £300 million a year into the sub-regional economy, creating and supporting over 8,000 new jobs, with 30 apprenticeships a year during construction over 20 years.
“Over 4,000 new homes will be built, providing for a new community of around 9,000 residents, many of whom will already be living in the area.”
He said 35 per cent of the new properties would be affordable and include 200 bungalows.
“Approximately £50 million pounds will be spent on providing new schools, including a secondary school and two primary schools on site.
“Approximately £25 million will be spent on community infrastructure, including a GP healthcare centre, neighbourhoods and local community centres delivered on site.
“A sports hub containing new facilities for cricket, football, tennis, and an all-weather 3G pitch will be provided on site along with significant contributions to local rugby and hockey clubs.
“A transport hub, including a 350-space park and ride interchange with new bus services and electric vehicle charging stations, tens of kilometres of new on-site and off-site cycleways and footpaths.
“Both Bloor Homes and Persimmon Homes are recognised as five-star house builders, ensuring build quality throughout their developments.
“They are committed to bringing forward Elms Park as a well-designed, sustainable and healthy place where the new community can thrive.”
Initially proposed in 2012, the Elms Park development became an integral part of the Joint Core Strategy in 2017, the document draughted by Gloucester, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury’s local authorities to map out its plans for development.
The land lies outside the green belt and falls entirely within an area of land allocated for development as part of that planning strategy.
Thirty five per cent of Elm Park’s housing will be designated ‘affordable’.
It will also feature three new schools (one secondary and two primary), enhancements to off-site cycling routes and 60 acres for employment land - including a 25-acre business park, a hotel and shops, cafes, restaurants, pubs and takeaways.
The housing delivered at the site will count towards Cheltenham’s numbers not Tewkesbury Borough’s, despite the site being split between the two authority areas.
Chairman of the borough’s planning committe, Cllr Garth Barnes (LD, College), said approval would “hopefully” prevent developers from challenging the council on its five-year housing land supply and submitting plans they are not happy with.
“If we did turn this application down, a refusal would expose us to appeals with a certain amount of complications,” he said.
The planning committee voted unanimously to approve the scheme.
By Carmelo Garcia, local democracy reporter for Gloucestershire. carmelo.garcia@reachplc.com