MORE than 180 residents visited an exhibition of plans for a proposed 350-home development in Thornbury, with many voicing concerns over the amount of housing already earmarked for the town.

The event for the Cleve Park development, adjacent to Morton Way and Grovesend Road, was held at the Armstrong Hall on Wednesday, April 13. It is the latest in a series of events, which included a community planning day visited by over 150 residents in February.

The plans, which include 350 homes, varying from bungalows, to four-bedroom houses and self-build plots, as well as a 70-space care home, noticeably no longer include plans for a GP surgery on the site.

Dominic Lawson, from Bespoke Planning, explained: “Having spoken to members of the Thornbury Town Council, it was made clear to us that it would be preferable for the town to concentrate on improving the current health centre.”

Town councillors at the event confirmed this statement.

Mr Lawson added: “While the site had been set aside for a GP practice, it has been left in the plans as a community facility which the townspeople can hopefully put to good use.”

A number of residents criticised the plans at the event when speaking to the Gazette.

Thornbury resident Gill Dunkley said: “Thornbury already has several developments happening right now. We have to finish that before anyone contemplates further building.

“Additional development will not revitalise the High Street as they say it will, only people using the shops there will cause that and these buildings are too far away for them to realistically do that often enough to make a difference.”

Thornbury resident Lloyd Spacey, who lives in Chiltern Park, across the road from the site of the proposed development, added: “While I understand houses have to go somewhere, there have been too many developments in recent years.

“On top of that, this development is literally right on my doorstep, which I can’t say I am too pleased about.”

Graeme Phillips, from architects JTP, said: “Part of today is offering an explanation of what we have included, ensuring everyone is more informed about the plans for Cleve Park.

“We have had a number of these events now, but there comes a time when we know we should be submitting something, and we think after exhaustively consulting the community we are almost there.”

Erik Pagano, from Landform Estates, added: “While this is not the end of the consultation, we are expecting to have an application ready to submit by the end of April.

“We will just need to wait and see what final feedback comes out of today.”