BATTLELINES have been drawn in the fight for the future of a Wotton-under-Edge pub.

Stroud District Council hopes to work with developer Hammonds Yates to knock down the Full Moon pub and neighbouring council garages, replacing them with around 19 affordable homes.

Development is in its infancy and a planning application has not yet been submitted.

The Full Moon has had a troubled history and been marketed unsuccessfully three times in recent years, but regulars argue it is a vital part of the Synwell community.

More than 20 residents turned out at Wotton Town Council's planning committee meeting on Monday to hear the developers speak about the proposals.

Developer Philip Yates said:  "Stroud District Council had looked at the possibility of developing the garage site and we looked at the viability of the public house there and the possibility of putting that site together to carry out a council housing development.

"I can see from the way you’re represented tonight that this is obviously very important to you."

Synwell resident James Thompson listed the numerous skittles, dominoes and cribs teams that use the pub.

"We don’t care whether we get any more social housing in this town," he said. "There are elderly people that have nothing else to do in the town.

"There will be a fight over this."

Norman Todd added: "The pub has been the nucleus of Synwell. You’re ripping the guts out of Synwell."

Last November the district council announced plans to use neglected or underused garages across the district to build the first set of council homes in 20 years.

Synwell residents were last month given notice on their leases from 18 garages.

Cllr Paul Smith, Stroud District Councillor for Wotton, challenged the legitimacy of the move.

"You have given them notice before an application has gone in," he said. "You have basically turned that site into a non-tenanted site. That is not going to be an excuse for putting a development on."

Cllr Smith added that Hammonds Yates had failed to offer the community the chance to raise money to take on the lease of the pub, as had been done with the Fleece in Hillesey, and as required under the Localism Act.

Local councillors and residents expressed their anger about the suitability of the site and the effect on Wotton's long-term parking problem that the loss of 18 garages and addition of 19 new homes and associated vehicles would have.

A spokesman for Stroud District Council defended the proposals, saying that there were 3,300 people on the housing waiting list, with Wotton alone requiring housing for another 160 people.

"Tenants were not evicted from their garages, but were given notice on their leases in line with their contracts," said the spokesman.

"Any planning applications would need to be approved by the council’s planners and we are sure that they will need to be satisfied that any proposed development does not cause parking issues."

But Peter Jones, posting on the Facebook group Save the Full Moon From Being Knocked Down, which has 737 members, wrote simply: "Let the battle commence."