SEVENTY homes are set to be built in Cambridge and Wotton-under-Edge after councillors gave the green light to two controversial housing developments.

Planning permission has been granted to build 24 houses on land in Cambridge and to redevelop the derelict Potters Pond factory site in Wotton into a 46-home estate.

Despite local town councillors and residents voicing strong objections, county councillors voted overwhelmingly in favour of the two developments at Stroud District Council’s development control committee on Tuesday, February 13.

Planning officers had recommended permission be granted for both projects.

The former CPS Packaging factory at Potters Pond, Wotton – lying derelict and vandalised – is set to be demolished and replaced with a dense housing development.

Crest Nicholson now have permission to build almost 50 homes on what many in Wotton consider to be one of the town’s last, prized, employment sites.

Wotton’s Cllr Paul Smith said that the town council and many local people were totally against Potters Pond becoming a residential area.

“Over the last few years, we have lost three areas of employment land within the town,” he said. “We are moving towards a situation where Wotton would lose all its employment sites bar one.”

Opponents also raised concerns about safety, the density of the planned housing, inadequate parking provision and the associated effects on rush hour traffic.

Daniel Weaver, speaking for the developers, said their proposals would make a valuable contribution to the town.

Seven councillors voted in favour of the Potters Pond redevelopment, with one abstaining.

Additionally, First Step Homes saw their application to build more than 20 houses off Dursley Road, near the A38, pass just one month after it was turned down by the council.

The development has been fiercely opposed by residents and parish leaders, who fear more houses will place additional strain on the already malfunctioning water system, which has been causing sewerage floods in Cambridge and Slimbridge for years.

It is a condition of the planning permission that building cannot start before suitable plans have been approved of to dispose of surface water and foul sewerage. These systems must be in place before people can move into the houses.

A spokesman for Slimbridge Parish Council said: “We cannot support this however much we want housing for our young people.

“Please reject the proposal in front of you on numbers, sewerage and design.”

Cllr Haydn Jones, Stroud district councillor for Severn ward, said he could vouch for the severity of the flooding.

He stressed: “It needs to be addressed properly before anything is done.”

Despite a fierce debate, and concerns about the placement of the social housing element – all at one side of the development – the application was approved by seven councillors to four.