AN OVERWHELMING majority of residents in Thornbury and Alveston are opposed to the proposed 3,000-home Buckover Garden Village, a survey has shown.

The survey, which was conducted by Thornbury and Yate MP Luke Hall, has revealed that 92 per cent of participants are opposed to the plans put forward by the Tortworth Estate.

A copy of the development survey, which was sent to every household in the town and village, saw around 3,000 responses to the series of speculative applications that have been put forward for Thornbury in recent months.

Other statistics of interest from the survey suggested that 37 per cent felt extra GP services were needed, 19 per cent would like to see a new train link to Thornbury, 14 per cent felt investment in roads like the A38 was necessary and 13 per cent said that school places needed to be looked at.

Mr Hall said: “It is really important that I firstly thank the thousands of residents in Thornbury and Alveston for taking the time to provide their feedback to my survey. It’ important to me as our MP to ensure that we are being heard and it has been hugely helpful in helping me keep up the fight for our community.

“On these proposals our communities’ feelings could not be clearer. There is no support for the 3,000 development a stone’s throw away from our town and I will be doing everything within my powers to make sure we are heard”

The West of England’s Joint Spatial Plan (JSP) which includes housing targets up to 2036, has allocated in its latest draft for 2,200 of the new homes destined for South Gloucestershire to go to the garden village.

Thornbury already faces around 1,900 new homes, with both approved and prospective developments on the north and east of the town.

At a public meeting organised by residents action group TRAPP’D (Thornbury Residents Against Poorly Planned Development) at the Armstrong Hall last November, Mr Hall cast doubt on the future of the scheme, after announcing that the Government had decided that the scheme had not met the criteria required to gain the Government support to progress the application.

Cllr Tim Bowles, the conservative candidate for the West of England Mayor election in May, who has backed Mr Hall’s stance against the proposed village, said that he would be calling for the development to be stopped if elected.

“I am saying no to Buckover,” he said. “It is clear there is very little support for the development from residents in the Thornbury and Alveston.”

A spokesman for the Tortworth Estate said that, having not seen the survey questions, they could not comment on any specifics.

The spokesman did however say: “It’s not surprising people are reacting negatively to any development around Thornbury given the intensity of current, and past, planning applications.

“In respect of Buckover Garden Village, we believe that position will change once we have completed our initial planning work and can give the public the answers and reassurances to all the questions they have asked.

"Our initial work throughout 2016 has revealed positive support for these non-green belt proposals, especially around the idea of providing economic and social benefits, employment, and also providing much needed housing - especially affordable housing for young people.  People said they want “proper planning” for the area and not just housing estates tacked on to the urban edges.  This may be just one reason for Mr Hall’s negative responses.

“In addition, a letter from the government’s Homes and Communities Agency, on the subject of the Buckover Garden Village Expression of Interest, stated it “recognised the potential” and encouraged further work."

"Mr Hall states that survey respondents ask for ‘extra GP facilities’, ‘investment in the A38’, and ‘the idea of a Thornbury MetroBus Link’.  The Estate is happy to confirm that it is already undertaking work on all of these issues.

“Given that the land is under the ownership of one entity, the Tortworth Estate, there lies in this proposal a real and unique opportunity to move away from the poor planning of the past and to help provide solutions to many of the concerns highlighted by this survey.”