RESIDENTS are celebrating after learning that plans to build 90 houses on a field at Engine Common have been rejected.

Developers at Sydney Freed Holdings had hoped to secure approval to build a new housing estate and two football pitches on land behind the Codrington Arms pub car park.

However South Gloucestershire Council have refused their planning application on the grounds that it would cause “a harmful impact” to the character of the area and “damage” to the land in question.  

They found that the proposed scheme would also “interfere with the safety of all road users” and result in “sub-standard traffic conditions”.

A report highlighting SGC's findings said: "By reason of its siting and scale, the proposed development would significantly detract from and harm the character, identity and setting of Engine Common.

"The proposal would fail to deliver a development that could considered to represent the highest possible standards of design."

Mike Keenan, member of Save Engine Common Action Group, told the Gazette that local people are “delighted” with the decision and “very grateful” to SGC.  

“Based on present pressure for houses, SGC must be 110 per cent convinced that Engine Common isn’t suitable for housing,” he said.

“The Parish Council also objected and their work helping to defeat this application also needs to be recognised and thanked.”

This is the third planning application made on the land in the past seven years - two of which went to appeal.

In both cases, however, the Government Inspector involved dismissed the appeal and planning permission was refused.

Mr Keenan hopes that the most recent refusal will help discourage further planning applications from being made in the future.

“In effect, planning has been refused five time in seven years,” he said.

“Even with the present housing shortage it’s blatantly clear to everyone, unless you’re a developer, that Engine Common isn’t suitable to be built on.”

Residents nearby to the proposed site had been particularly concerned about the development’s impact on drainage in the area, which they described as already being "poor". 

Although Sydney Freed proposed to raise the land beneath the new houses by up to five feet, SGC determined that they had not done to demonstrate that the new houses would not make things worse.

“Sydney Freed spent weeks drilling bore holes to determine the suitability of the land regarding drainage," explained Mr Keenan.

"All it actually told them was that the land wasn’t suitable at all.

“Even the drilling equipment sank in the mud and got stuck - it had to be towed out by the local farmer.

“Local people had warned them how boggy and poorly drained the field was, perhaps now they’ll believe us.”

The Gazette has contacted a spokesperson for Sydney Freed Holdings for comment.