PARISH leaders in Kingswood have said they are to lodge a formal complaint against Stroud District Council.

Kingswood Parish Council met on Monday night, November 14 to discuss its next steps after planning consent was granted for 27 new homes in the village.

The parish council had objected to the plans by Taylor Wimpey but district planners granted permission for the housing estate last week.

Speaking to the Gazette Cllr David Rockey said the parish council was not happy with how the application had been handled by Stroud District Council and believed the authority had not followed the proper process.

At its meeting on Monday the parish council resolved to look into a judicial review, but would be writing to the Local Government Ombudsman, which handles complaints about councils.

Cllr Rockey said: "We are going to investigate it and get advice.

"We have to have a better understanding of any costs because we don’t want to end up giving the district council enormous legal costs but equally so there was certainly an abuse of process."

He added: "We are also giving a complaint to the local government ombudsman and contacting Stroud District Council’s own complaints route.

"They didn’t follow proper process and didn’t give the councillors a good understanding of the issues."

Kingswood Parish Council has also this week announced plans to progress with its Neighbourhood Plan, which will allow local communities to have more influence over future developments.

The council is also going to conduct a Housing Needs Survey for the parish.

Cllr Rockey said: "We want to be proactive as a village rather than just be reactive.

"I just think this is so important in terms of the wider issues. It’s not about nimbyism it’s about planning."

A spokesman for Stroud District Council said: "The application was heard by the Development Control Committee where all the evidence was considered; in fact the meeting was suspended for half an hour to allow members to consider the wealth of late submissions from the community. It should also be remembered that the parish council and the opposition group took the opportunity to address the meeting before any decision was made."