CONTROVERSIAL plans for a 3,000-home village on the outskirts of Thornbury could go under the microscope of government inspectors following an appeal from the town’s MP.

The proposed Buckover Garden Village, which has been put forward by landowner Tortworth Estate and developer St Modwen, has been included in the final draft of the West of England’s Joint Spatial Plan (JSP), a document that would guide the future of development in South Gloucestershire, Bristol and Bath and North East Somerset until 2036.

Having been formally submitted to central government, two independent inspectors have been appointed to assess the “soundness” of the plan, including its policies, locations and framework.

The next phase in the process known as the “examination in public” will form hearings and sessions before a report is made to the Secretary of State, who ultimately will decide whether changes need to be made to parts of the plan. 

Thornbury and Yate MP Luke Hall, who has opposed the plans from the outset, has announced his intention to call for inspectors to take the unusual step in holding an additional and special hearing session which will focus solely on the proposals at Buckover. 

He said it is hoped that, in delivering an extra session, it would allow the community an opportunity to vigorously argue that the expansion proposal is not in line with the aims of the wider housing plan and the implications it would have on traffic.

Mr Hall said: “I have and will continue to be committed to fighting this poorly thought out proposal. 

“I will now be pressing the independent inspectors to give our community a real opportunity to put our case before them, which will include what we have been saying all along.”

The MP stated that the plan “is not deliverable, sustainable and has the potential to gridlock the A38 fringe”. He also cited emails unearthed through a Freedom of Information request that suggested South Gloucestershire planners even have doubts that infrastructure can be truly delivered to support it.

An SGC spokesman said that with the draft JSP having been submitted to the government, it would be subject to an examination in public this autumn.

As such, it would be a matter for the appointed inspectors to determine which issues they will want to examine and who they will call to present evidence to them as part of their assessment of the plan.