Major consultation on future development will start in December

All councils are required to have a core strategy to deal with future development and the Joint Core Strategy (JCS) is a partnership to produce such a strategy between the three councils.

Councillors at Cheltenham Borough, Tewkesbury Borough and Gloucester City councils have now all agreed to consult on a document called 'Developing the Preferred Option'.  The outcomes from the consultation will inform the preparation of the JCS.

The consultation document identifies a 'vision' for the JCS area, as well as the potential number of homes that will need to be provided across the area for the next 20 years. In addition, the document indicates potential locations to deliver housing and employment needs.

Residents across the Joint Core Strategy area will be encouraged to comment on these potential requirements and locations, as well as the document itself. 

The information within the document has been produced using feedback from previous consultation exercises and a wide range of evidence, including population and household projections, a green belt review, an employment land review and a Strategic Flood Risk Assessment.

Andrew North, Chair of the Programme Board for the JCS, said: "This is the start of one of the most important and far reaching consultations we have carried out over many years. The JCS, which we hope finally to publish early in 2014, will set out the scale and location of housing and employment development for urban Gloucestershire and its rural fringe for the next 20 years and by doing so will profoundly affect the character of Cheltenham and Gloucesteras well as land within Tewkesbury Borough. It should matter to everyone who lives, works, visits or cares about the area, so we want people's views."

Details of how residents can get involved and submit comments will be issued in early December.

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