DETERMINED residents are once again fighting to stop 100 houses being built on a meadow near their homes in Dursley.

When Stroud District Council rejected plans for a development off Shakespeare Road in Woodmancote in December there were cries of relief from local people.

But now the developer, Gladedale Estates Ltd, has appealed against SDC's decision – so the residents have relaunched their campaign to save the land in the area known as the 'Poet's Estate'.

And Stroud MP Neil Carmichael has taken up the cause by penning a letter to the government's chief planning inspector, who will decide on Gladedale's appeal.

Mr Carmichael met with the residents on Friday to hear their objections to the development, which include the extra traffic it will cause and the loss of green space.

In his letter, the Conservative MP pointed out that SDC is working on a Local Plan which sets out areas for development in the district – and the meadow in Woodmancote is not among the sites.

“I hope that the chief planning inspector will take note of our emerging local plan," he told the Gazette. "That plan, though not fully ratified, does still hold weight in this argument.

“The inspector should recognise the plan, which does take development into account, but not on this site.”

Mr Carmichael said Dursley was a 'beautiful place' and he feared excessive development could ruin the area.

Shakespeare Road resident Mario Maleski said one of the driving forces behind him buying his home was the land which is now at risk.

He said: “It’s one of the reasons we bought the house – the quality of life, the view. We all bought a house here for this reason.

“But it’s not just our own needs we’re thinking of when we object to this development. It’s everybody. Dursley is supplying more than enough houses on the brownfield site on the other side of town.

“This town has enough problems in terms of traffic that will just be worsened by an extra 100 homes."

Mr Maleski’s neighbour, Geoff Moyser, agreed, saying: “It isn’t just for our own selfish reasons. The area is used by hundreds of people every week – people walking or walking their dogs.

“The meadow is also well-used in the making of hay.”

The original planning application was submitted by Gladedale in April last year and inspired almost 200 letters of objection before SDC's development control committee rejected the scheme at a meeting on December 18. 

In the appeal application, Gladedale said there were no technical objections to the development.

It said the site is not within the Cotswold area of natural beauty and that Dursley is listed as a 'first tier settlement' in SDC’s emerging local plan – meaning it has been designated as an area for development.