DETERMINED residents are once again rallying to save a field from being turned into houses, as the developer attempts to push through the plans.

Hundreds of people lodged their opposition to developer Oxford Law’s 25-home proposal when it was first submitted in July 2016 – angered by the potential “plundering” of the land at Holywell Farm in Wotton-under-Edge.

A few days before Christmas, Stroud District Council planning officers echoed their concerns, refusing to grant permission for the development.

With the six-month window to lodge an appeal drawing to a close, residents had their fingers crossed that Oxford Law had dropped the scheme – but the developer has refused to give up. 

At the end of last month, Oxford Law lodgen an appeal, beginning the process which will see a government planning inspector make the final decision on the application.

Ahead of a four-day public inquiry into the decision in December, campaigners leading the fight to protect the land are once again calling on residents to help prevent the council’s decision from being overturned.

Julia Fry, of Holywell Farm Action Group, said that their fight was a “desperate campaign” to stop development of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

“The land under threat is of huge importance as it forms part of the idyllic Tyley Valley and housing here would set a catastrophic precedent for further development towards Coombe and further along the valley,” she said.

“A defeat for Stroud [District Council] here could spell disaster for other similar pieces of AONB farmland, as it would be used as a precedent for future cases. 

“This is not a Nimbyist campaign - it is a desperate fight to stop our precious countryside being used as a cash source for developers, and Stroud District Council will need our support in defending its decision for refusal.   

“Holywell Farm Action Group will be doing all it can to ensure that this greedy and opportunist attempt at plundering Wotton’s wonderful surrounding countryside for financial gain does not succeed.”

As well as being in the AONB, the land is outside of Wotton-under-Edge’s settlement boundary and, along with concerns about insufficient information in the application of the proposal’s ecological and archaeological impacts, were Stroud District Council’s justifications for refusing the application.

The planning inquiry is scheduled to take place over four days starting on December 12 at Stroud District Council’s Ebley Mill offices.

Public representations can be made using the application reference 3175953 on the planning inspectorate website at acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk until August 15