CONTROVERSIAL plans for a 180-home housing development on the outskirts of Thornbury have been submitted for planning permission.

The site west of Gloucester Road, which has been put forward by Ainscough Strategic Land, situates itself between the Post Farm and Thornbury Fields developments, and would contribute to a total of 1,455 proposed new homes for the town alongside the Park Farm and Cleve Park developments.

Following the submission, the developers will be presenting their application to Thornbury Town Council at a public meeting on Tuesday, September 27, with interested parties being encouraged to attend.

Thornbury residents had previously been given the chance to visit a public exhibition displaying the plans put forward by Ainscough.

Rachael Ainscough, land director for Ainscough Strategic Land, said: “I am pleased to confirm that our application has now been lodged and validated.

“A full and robust application was submitted in August and incorporates a number of comments from council officers and stakeholders which arose from the pre-submission consultation process.

“We now look forward to working with the council and other key stakeholders throughout the application process, to pursue the application to determination.

“We will be presenting the submitted plans to Thornbury Town Council and will be happy to answer any of their questions and provide any requested information.”

The window for the public to submit comments to South Gloucestershire Council regarding the plans had originally been 21 days after the submission of the plans, expiring tomorrow, but after a request for an extension to coincide with the presentation to the town council, it has been extended until Wednesday, September 28.

Speaking on behalf of Thornbury Town Council who have previously launched a residents’ petition against further development in the town, Cllr Maggie Tyrrell said: “This is yet another example of more housing being dumped onto the edge of Thornbury without any thought being given to the needs of the community – old or new.

“This is the worst of them all so far because it pushes the boundary even further out, making all the traffic and facility issues even more difficult than previous applications.

“If this site is given permission that will add up to 600 new homes built on this edge of Thornbury without any additional facilities for the town to help us cope.

“When are South Gloucestershire Council going to put a stop to this speculative, unplanned building?

“We have got enough new housing developments cropping up around Thornbury at the moment, with no sign of strategic planning to support the housing we are already getting.

“Until we get that, we should be imposing a ban of further building so the town can catch up with the substantial growth.”